Beautiful Distraction
by kandij
Summary: It definitely wasn't love, but it was more than friendship. Exactly what it was Hermione couldn't be sure. He was like her own personal drug, a beautiful distraction that seemed to make everything better. From the moment she first met him, she swore he was no good, but her fourth year at Hogwarts caused her to question everything she thought she knew about Draco Malfoy.
1. The Night of the Yule

**Author's notes** : Hello there, FanFiction community. If there are any of my old readers out there by chance let me first say, thank you for even giving this a glance. For new readers, please know this is something that is very different from the work I've done in the past (it's been years since I've posted a story). I would normally write about the Hermione/Ron connection and was completely appalled at the stories that involved Hermione and Malfoy previously. But after binge watching all the movies one afternoon and suffering from a serious drought of boredom, inspiration struck to write a new story with a twist. I'm sure there are few people that _don't_ love a good Hermione/Ron story and of course we all know they end up together, yet what about the times at Hogwarts when Hermione and Ron had been too afraid to admit their true feelings? And what about Draco Malfoy; is he truly a bad person, or just misunderstood? Read on to find out.

*Year Four *

Hermione slumped to the cold stone floor of the grand staircase of Hogwarts as her friends, Harry and Ron scuttled up the stairs and out of sight. She felt the pang of disappointment in her gut and tears stinging her eyes. _"I won't cry, not now and not over this."_ She told herself trying to hold back.

Tonight was the night of the highly anticipated Yule Ball and of course she would have loved to go with one Ron Weasley. When she first heard there was going to be a dance her heart leapt at the thought of Ron asking her to be his date and the possibility that he and Hermione would finally admit their feelings verbally instead of always pretending there was nothing there. She had hoped it would be the official start of a relationship together; instead it was nothing more than a complete let down. Hermione was as frustrated as she was hurt. She never really knew if Ron felt the way she did about him, but there were many occasions where it was difficult to ignore the way he acted towards her. She worried that he might not return her feelings and feared of ruining a lifelong friendship for nothing, but she hated the idea of waiting around for who only knows how long for Ron to come to his senses and make the first move.

It wasn't until after Hermione had already agreed to go with someone else that Ron even hinted at asking her. What was worse was that he didn't even try to act like he really cared about attending the dance, only about not being the only guy without a date.

Hermione huffed recalling the experience again, still resting on the steps trying not to burst into tears and ruin her perfectly applied makeup. Up until the last few minutes, she was actually enjoying herself, after all, she had the most sought-after boy at Hogwarts as her date.

Viktor Krum had taken a keen interest in Hermione around the second week of school. Maybe it was because she didn't feign over him like the other girls did, or maybe he really did like her. Whatever the reason, Hermione wasn't sure. All she knew was that after a few friendly conversations between classes and several study sessions in the library, Viktor had requested Hermione to be his date over all the other girls that he could have taken his pick with.

This time Hermione smiled slightly remembering how flattered she was to even be noticed by Viktor. It was at that exact moment that he returned from another round of socializing with some of his Durmstrang classmates and fought his way through the other girls to get back to his real date for the evening.

Viktor walked up the first few steps to meet Hermione, pausing at her feet to take her small hand and kiss it like an old fashioned gentleman.

Hermione blushed thinking how cute he was. "Are you ready for one more dance?" Viktor asked as he looked into Hermione's deep brown eyes.

"That sounds lovely." She replied, gathering her dress and getting to her feet. Once again she took Viktor's arm and they flooded the dancefloor. Hermione felt butterflies in her stomach as he took her waist again and coolly started waltzing to the music.

"Are you having a nice time?" He asked awkwardly trying to fill the long silence between them.

Hermione nodded, "Yes, yes I am. It really has been a beautiful evening, almost perfect even."

" _Almost perfect"_ she repeated in her head again as she remembered how stupid Ron had acted. She had to admit that it did feel great to watch the wave of jealously wash over him as she walked into the room on Viktor's arm, but it killed her to think that he was too stubborn to do anything about it or so much as ask her for one dance.

"Good." Viktor said, seeming to bring the conversation to a close.

When the music stopped he and Hermione meandered out to the garden path beside the great hall. Hermione tried to engage him in conversation but it was next to impossible because Viktor would give the simplest answers and fall quiet again leaving Hermione to pick up the conversation once more.

She gazed out over the immaculate hedges and rows of perfectly groomed landscaping that surrounded her. The stars were shimmering brilliantly above their heads and the faintest bit of music from the hall was drifting out to them. Viktor kept his eyes focused on Hermione as he watched her take in the scenery.

"You look stunning"

She blushed, "Thank you, you look very handsome as well."

Viktor smiled a bit and leaned in closer, seizing Hermione by the waist again. She felt her heart beat faster and her nervousness return as she starred up at him. Viktor then brought his hand up to Hermione's face and tipped her chin up to him before moving in to kiss her, very gently for only a moment.

He separated from her quickly to make sure he hadn't crossed any boundaries, he had a difficult time reading Hermione as she didn't seem to be like the other girls he had experience with. Hermione's face blushed again and she brought her arms up to latch around his broad neck, giving him the signal he had done nothing wrong.

After a long minute, they parted again, Hermione's heart beating even faster now. Viktor eyed the inside of the hall and watched the last few of his classmates disappear from the floor as the clock tower signaled it was now eleven o'clock at night.

"Well Hermione, thank you for being my date tonight, and for a wonderful evening."

"The pleasure was all mine." She said breathlessly.

"If it is alright with you, I told my friends I would meet up with them after the dance, so I should really be on my way." Viktor said as he bent into a deep bow and planted one last kiss on her left hand before excusing himself.

Hermione stood there for a moment taking everything in. _"That's it? He just says goodnight and leaves without a second thought?"_ She thought to herself feeling both offended that he was so quick to leave and yet thankful he didn't pressure her into doing anything that made her uncomfortable. He had been kind enough throughout the evening and behaved like a gentleman ought to, but it still troubled her that he didn't seem to have much interest in anything other than having a date to the dance. She tried not to let it bother her or allow herself to get angry, yet it still tugged at her and made her feel slightly self-conscious.

After mulling things over for a bit Hermione wandered farther away from the Great Hall and deeper into the garden terrace where she eventually took a seat on a stone bench under a brilliant archway of flowers. She kicked off her high heels and coiled up on the seat, losing herself to her thoughts once more. She couldn't help but feel insulted by Ron's actions and offended by the way Viktor had ended the night. She had thought that for sure by asking her to be his date it might have meant he wanted to be something more with Hermione or at least that he had feelings for her but not only did it seem like he didn't want to pursue a relationship but seeing Viktor with her also didn't provoke Ron into taking action.

Hermione felt the tears building in her eyes again and finally allowed them to escape while she sobbed quietly on the bench. She felt as though she would never be good enough and none of the boys she was interested in would ever see her as anything more than a good friend or a study partner when they needed help with their homework.

"You alright there, Granger; looking for some company?" A sudden voice pierced the calm night.

Hermione hastened to try to hide the fact she had been crying as she wiped her eyes, "No, no, I'm fine-" her voice broke in mid-sentence, "and no I do not want any company thank you, not from you at least." Hermione scowled as she caught a glimpse of non-other than Draco Malfoy standing several feet from her.

Malfoy laughed a little, "Well you don't look fine, anyone with a brain could see that something is bothering you." He said walking a bit closer to her.

Hermione sniffed and tried to put on her best lecture-voice, "And I don't need any trouble from you so why don't you just go on your way and leave me be?"

Malfoy made eye contact as he watched her speak but stood planted in place. "All I know is if I had a date that looked _half_ as nice as you do tonight, I wouldn't have left her alone crying to run off somewhere else." His voice was firm as he spoke. Hermione was taken aback by the words she just heard from him, she had never heard Malfoy say anything even remotely resembling a compliment and was sure he was playing at some sort of horrible game.

She cleared her throat, "Right…er…well, thank you but I don't want your company." She replied in an attempt to end the interaction before Malfoy had a chance to spoil the evening further.

Malfoy stuffed his hands in his pockets and smiled again, seemingly amused by her stubbornness. He walked over to Hermione's bench and planted himself beside her.

"Excuse you. You are being awfully rude. I don't know why you've come here to mock me Malfoy but….."

"Geeze, Granger, I'm not trying to be a git. Malfoy interrupted, "And for your information, I saw the look on your face tonight when Weasley blew you off, and how you tried to cover up how upset you were with him when Krum came back. You've really got to be some sort of idiot to walk away from a girl who goes through all of this to be a perfect date for an evening."

Hermione couldn't speak, her mind was racing to evaluate whether or not Malfoy was being genuine. He sounded sincere, but years of terrible behavior and rude comments told her he was no good. "Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden? You've never paid any attention to me before and you've said the more horrible things to me and my friends." She sneered defensively.

He chuckled again, "Well Granger for being as smart as you are, you don't notice everything." Hermione had a confused look painted across her face and when she said nothing, Malfoy continued on, "Just because I don't particularly care for the blokes you hang around with and call friends doesn't mean I haven't noticed you before. "he concluded turning to meet Hermione's gaze.

Hermione burned with rage and annoyance at his words and the fact that he was still sitting next to her, "That's rich, Malfoy, you've said plenty of horrendous things to me before! You called me a Mudblood and think you are so much better than me and everyone else!"

Malfoy looked defeated as he heard her reprimand him. He leaned over and studied his shoes intently for a moment before speaking again, "Let's just say that ever since you punched me in the nose last year, I took it as a long-overdue wake-up-call. I've been a lot more perceptive of things ever since." He said quietly, still focused heavily on his shoes.

Hermione scoffed, feeling pleased as she remembered her hard punch to Malfoy's face last spring. "I don't know what game you are playing at tonight but I don't find it very amusing. You can just crawl back to whatever hole it is you slithered out of and leave me alone!"

Malfoy slowly got to his feet and starred down at Hermione, "Did you ever stop to think that maybe I'm not _really_ such a bad guy and that I might actually be trying to do the right thing - for a change?" He paused to study her reaction, "Besides, I don't see any of your wonderful friends here to help you when you need it, seems to me your friendship is only convenient when they need something. But that's just how the outsider looking in sees it so if what you want is to be left alone, then I'll go."

With that he turned and began walking back towards the castle. Hermione watched after him letting his words sink in a bit more. She noted for the first time his blonde hair styled perfectly and the clean-cut suit that looked incredibly sharp on his tall, shapely figure.

It really was something Hermione had never witnessed from Malfoy before, what's more was that there was no posse of Slytherins trailing behind him. He was all alone for a change, looking rather dashing in his formal attire. Hermione couldn't recall seeing him with date, but then again she never paid much attention to Malfoy unless Harry was filling her in on his latest schemes and slanders. Something inside her stirred curiously as she watched him walk away. Suddenly he wasn't the same rude and boisterous school-mate Hermione had known for the last four years, he was someone who looked as though they were feeling as lost and alone as she was.

"Malfoy….?" Hermione called after him, her tone softer now and less threatening.

Malfoy turned to glance back at her over his shoulder.

"Would you like to sit with me… for a little while?" Hermione asked skeptically.

Malfoy said nothing in response but obliged her request and turned back to her, taking his seat beside her once more.

After a long stretch of very uncomfortable silence, Malfoy spoke in an attempt to lay everything on the table and make their interaction less awkward "I know this is…unusual of me…but you have to know, Granger, I notice a lot more than you think. I notice the way you stare after Weasley, Merlin only knows why or what you see in him…. I notice the look on your face every time he says something stupid….which is most of the time…." He paused to analyze any potential response form Hermione before turning to look forward again, "and I notice how gorgeous you looked tonight for two men that don't deserve it and don't notice."

Hermione felt her face get hot with nervousness and tears escaped the corner of her eyes as she listened to what Draco was confessing to her, all her emotions rushing to the surface once more. She thought about the events of the last few hours, the roller coaster of emotions she had been on the last several weeks as she waited anxiously for Ron to ask her, jumped at the chance to attend the Ball with Krum to make him jealous only to get overlooked and tossed aside by each of them earlier that night.

Malfoy waited silently for her to say something but spied the tears leaking from her brown eyes. He slowly lifted his arm around her shoulders and cautiously rested it there to comfort her. Hermione broke down suddenly and buried her face it his chest, finally allowing the tears to come and letting go of her disappointment with Ron and Viktor's behavior.

A few minutes later Hermione managed to regain her composure and she began wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry," she sniffed, "It's all so stupid really, this isn't like me at all."

Malfoy remained silent but reached into his jacket pocket to pass her a silk handkerchief emblazoned with the letter 'M' on it that he offered to her to dry her eyes.

"Thank you." Hermione breathed as she dabbed the cloth against her wet skin. "Why are you out here anyway?" Hermione didn't know if she wanted to hear the answer to this question, or even if he would tell her the truth but it was the first thing she could think of to try to change the subject.

"Just needed to get away from everything for a few minutes, like you I'm assuming." He answered very calmly and quietly. Malfoy appeared to be deep in thoughts of his own but was coming across as concerned for her.

Hermione was still questioning his unusual behavior to herself, "I don't know why you aren't more like this all the time, you'd probably be much more well- liked."

A smile spread across his thin lips once more, "Are you going to tell me what _exactly_ happened tonight?"

"That depends…."

"On?" He questioned.

"Why you are suddenly so interested and if you are just going to use it against me later."

The smile vanished and Malfoy turned away from her. Hermione watched him keenly wanting to know what he was thinking desperately.

"If I swear not to use it against you later will you tell me?"

Hermione hesitated before answering, "Then yes, so long as everything stays between you and me, I won't tell anyone you were a nice guy." This time she smiled as she spoke but noticed that Malfoy didn't mirror it back to her, maybe he really did feel bad and was trying to do the right thing for a change.

"Alright, then tell me Granger, what's got your wand in a knot?" He replied.

"Like I said…stupid really. I was having such a lovely time tonight with my date but he ended the evening so abruptly and he isn't much of a conversationalist. Heck, I've probably had more conversation with you tonight that I did with him."

"Mhm. And the fact that Weasley didn't steal you away from your date has nothing to do with those tears I'm sure." Malfoy countered.

Hermione felt herself blush slightly but denied the alleged attraction to Ron categorically. "Ron has nothing to do with this. He had his own date."

"And he couldn't keep his eyes off you could he?" He waited for Hermione to say some other rebuttal but when she did not he went on, "And don't try to tell me you weren't watching him either and that you aren't bothered by what he does. You've been lusting after him for some time now, I see it every time you two are together."

"You do, do you?!" Hermione hissed in defense, "Sorry but I don't think you know what you're talking about Malfoy, you hardly know anything about either of us."

"I never claimed to know everything; I'm just claiming to be more observant than Weasley is all."

Another silence fell between them before Hermione's eyes filled with tears once more, "He's just so blind!" Again, Malfoy did not respond and waited for her to go on. "I mean honestly, how can he be so stupid?! Not only does he not notice anything, but the thought to ask me to the dance never even crossed his mind until he started worrying about being the only person without a date! And to be so rude to Viktor of all people when he completely worships the man, I just don't understand what his problem is!" The words poured from Hermione's mouth so quickly, she didn't have much time to think about choosing them carefully. She wondered if she was saying too much but was grateful that she was finally able to say what she had been thinking all night.

"Wow, I'm starting to feel even more amused about that time Weasley's wand backfired in second year and he vomited slugs all day." Malfoy joked.

Hermione laughed this time, remembering how obscene Ron looked and how angry Harry was at Malfoy that day.

"Do you want me to leave?" He questioned suddenly.

"No, you don't have to go. Just change the subject—please!"

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything." Hermione replied, "Anything except those two. Just distract me somehow."

Malfoy searched his brain to try to come up with something for them to talk about. "Do you hate me as much as Potter does?" His voice was all seriousness now and he studied Hermione intently, looking rather nervous as he waited for her to speak.

Hermione was taken aback by his blatancy and was unsure what reaction he was hoping to hear. "No," She breathed, "no I don't hate you. I don't even know you—well nothing really other than what Harry has gossiped to me."

He looked relieved and nodded along as if to say, " _Yeah I'm sure Potter runs his mouth about a lot of things he knows nothing about."_

Malfoy spoke out loud, "Well what do you want to know?"

"Erm…." She stammered, not sure what to ask, "what is your favorite class?"

"History." Malfoy replied coolly.

Hermione's mouth fell open, "Really? I never would have pegged you for a history buff."

"I think there is a lot we can learn from the past, and that it can teach us a lot about the future." He said casually, "What's your favorite?"

"I like charms, and transfiguration of course. They keep you on your toes and there is so much to learn that I feel like I'll never know it all no matter how hard I practice." Hermione rambled on about the classes she liked and disliked, Malfoy listening intently to her every word. "Do you like being in the Slytherin house?" She questioned him once she had concluded.

Malfoy wrinkled his nose, "I don't hate it, I just hate how what everyone thinks of Slytherin and that everyone is automatically a dark wizard."

"I bet it gets lonely, doesn't it?" She asked.

He nodded in agreement, "Yeah, we mostly have to keep to ourselves because none of the other houses will give us a chance; which I can understand to an extent. But you know what the worst part of all of it is don't you?"

"What's that?"

"The dungeons." Malfoy chuckled. "They are just terrible. Wet, cold, drafty, smelly all the time. Most days I'm lucky to see the outside through a window much less get to spend time outdoors at all."

Hermione laughed a little, she had often imagined the dark, musty dungeon to be rather unpleasant. "It does sound dreadful."

The pair continued talking back and forth, exchanging thoughts about school and what they liked and disliked for some time. Hermione was beginning to forget that she was talking to the greatly disliked, Draco Malfoy as he didn't appear to be the same person as he usually was. It was a curious interaction indeed, and one that Hermione never expected to experience yet she was grateful for the company and that Malfoy had opened up to her and shown his human side.

Suddenly, the clock tower began to chime high in the sky. "Blimey!" Hermione cried, "It's midnight!"

Malfoy glanced up at the tower, "So it is."

"Imagine how much trouble we'll be in if we are found out of bed after hours." She panicked, "We could get expelled!"

This seemed to amuse Malfoy, "Rubbish," he said, "have to do far worse than that to get kicked out." He got to his feet and held out his hand to Hermione, helping her off the stone bench. Hermione gathered her gorgeous strappy sling backs and took Malfoy's arm. Once they reached the inside of the castle, they found it was rather deserted and that the other students had scuttled off to their common rooms already.

Hermione gave a nervous look around, fearful of being caught by a member of the Hogwarts staff. She then bent down to put on her heels before setting off on the many flights up to the Gryffindor common room.

When she rose to her full height she noted that the lanky Malfoy was still towering over her, even with her four inch heels attached to her feet. She looked up at him, unsure of what to say. "Thank you Malfoy."

"For what?"

"For the distraction. And for the conversation."

He smiled a clever sideways smile at her, "Anytime, Granger." He replied simply before heading off in the direction of the dungeon. Before he vanished through the door he cast one more look in Hermione's direction as she stood poised on the great staircase in her breathtaking dress for the ball. Hermione looked back, fighting off a smile before waving at him and beginning up the stairs.

Minutes later, when she reached the common room, her spirits felt lifted once more. She tip-toped through the fat lady as quietly as she could manage and saw the brilliant fireplace still glowing near the squashy armchairs. Her eyes fell on a mane of red hair hanging over the side of a couch and immediately recognized it as Ron's.

Hermione stepped over to him to see that he was fast asleep, his moth-eaten dress robes discarded on the arm of a nearby chair. She sat down on the seat next to him, being careful not to wake him even though she knew Ron was one of the heaviest sleepers that had ever lived.

She loved the way he looked when he slept, so peaceful and still. One of her favorite things was to listen for when he would occasionally talk in his sleep. He often dreamed of spiders and pop quizzes during potions class, but every once and awhile, Hermione thought she could make out her name is his hazy speech and she wondered what he was dreaming about.

" _Accio blanket_." Hermione whispered and a plush, grey colored throw zoomed into view. She tossed it over Ron's sleeping body and reached down to gently stroke a lock of his feathery hair.

Ron stirred at her touch and Hermione watched as a smile spread across his face before he quickly fell deeper into sleep. She couldn't help but wonder if he had tried wait up for her so that when she came back he could apologize for his behavior and tell Hermione that he really would have liked to take her to the ball. This thought pleased her, and even though he had said nothing, Hermione felt her frustration with Ron vanish like it always tended to do somehow and she danced up the stairs to the girls dormitory.


	2. Somewhere

Hermione's eyes fluttered open as the sun's rays pierced the dirty window of Gryffindor tower the next morning. Groggily, she stretched and rolled onto her back and began thinking about hearing what Ron would say to her later that day. She wondered if he would indeed apologize for not getting his act together sooner or if he would ignore it as if nothing happened.

Hermione was vaguely aware of the deserted girl's dormitory that morning as she glanced around and saw empty beds and various belongings had been packed away to take home while the other girls visited their families over holiday. This year was the first year she didn't return home to visit her parents over term break as they were vacationing in the Caribbean on a time share her father was part of. It was unfamiliar territory to her to be away from them, but she rather enjoyed the solitude of the tower that morning.

After a few minutes she got to her feet and stretched her tired muscles. She began dressing herself in casual clothes since there were no classes in session and students were free from the restrictions of the usual dress code. Hermione pulled on her favorite deep red cable knit sweater and a pair of dark denim jeans. Pausing the check her reflection in a nearby mirror, Hermione noticed that her elegant up-do from the night before now looked ghastly and limp. She grabbed her brush and began pulling it through her long locks before styling it into a simple bun.

She walked over to the chair near her bedside and saw her fantastic periwinkle-blue dress from the night before spread over it. A smile crept onto her face as she remembered the events from the night before. A few hours earlier, her perspective of the evening was completely different, now however, she found herself recalling a wonderful evening that was as pleasant as she had hoped it to be.

She sighed fondly and bent to gather the dress to pack it away properly but as she lifted the delicate material off the chair, something fell from within the folds and fluttered to the floor.

Hermione gasped, remembering for the first time her encounter with Draco Malfoy. She stooped to gather the silky handkerchief in her hands and studied it closely. The small square of fabric was the most beautiful pearly white color she had ever seen. As she traced her fingers over the emerald green monogrammed letter 'M' she noticed that the stitching appeared to be hand sewn and very intricately designed. She wondered if perhaps the reason for her newfound appreciation of the night was because of Malfoy's company that lifted her spirits.

Questions instantly flooded her mind as she tried desperately to think of a reason behind his sudden change in behavior. She figured that either she had imagined the whole thing or that it was a one time lapse in judgment, or maybe perhaps Malfoy had been hexed to act with decency. Whatever the reason, Hermione was determined to investigate further. She vowed that she would return the kerchief to him at the first available opportunity. With a wave of her wand, the pearly white cloth was free from Hermione's tear stains and she tucked it into her jeans pocket before strolling out of the room and down to breakfast.

When she entered the great hall she did a quick once over of the room. The long tables weren't crowded with the usual number of students but in fact were very empty. Only a few students from each house were busy feasting on the morning spread and reading the paper. She glanced toward the Slytherin table as she made her way to her usual seat next to Harry and Ron but did not spot Malfoy's tell-tale blonde hair.

"Morning." She greeted Harry and Ron as she settled in and reached for a bit of toast.

"Hey Hermione," Acknowledged Harry. "Juice?" He asked her passing a carafe of orange juice across the table.

"Ron." Hermione nodded in Ron's direction but he seemed oblivious to her presence. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows and starred at him with interest, waiting for him to say something. When he said nothing, she poured herself a glass of juice and began, "You both had an enjoyable time last night I suspect, we're lucky really, not many students get the chance to attend the Yule Ball."

Ron snorted, "Yeah, lucky alright."

Harry ignored him, "Right…er –enjoyable." He muttered.

Hermione's fist slammed down on the table, "What is the matter with you two? Are you completely incapable of carrying on a conversation?!"

"What's the matter with _you?!"_ Ron barked suddenly, "Last I checked, you were the one that was too good to be seen with us, now that you've got Viktor." He sneered at her, seemingly disgusted by Krum's name.

Hermione felt her face go white, "Is that what you think, that I only went to make you look bad?"

"That's what I know!"

"I went because he asked me!" She spat, "Honestly Ron, not everything is about you." Hermione's eyes darted around the room, searching more frantically for any sign of Malfoy that she had missed before.

"I'm not talking about me, I'm talking about Harry! How do you think it looks when the youngest champion's best friend is off gallivanting around with a Durmstrang?"

Hermione gave no reply, her throat was dry as she tried to think of a nasty retort but was coming up with nothing. She exchanged a glance with Harry who seemed to have no opinion on the matter and wasn't getting involved. "Rubbish, absolute rubbish!" Hermione mumbled as she got to her feet and stormed away from the breakfast table, leaving Harry and Ron alone once again.

Her feet carried her out of the hall and into the entrance near the main staircase, letting her temper rise as she walked. Clearly Ron wasn't going to apologize any time soon and had no intention about discussing things like a mature person.

"Hermione!" A voice called from afar.

Hermione whirled to see Viktor marching in her direction. He was the absolute last person she wanted to see right now, after all it was him who got her into this mess.

"Did you already have breakfast? You are welcome to come sit with us if you would like." Said Viktor, bending down to kiss Hermione's left hand.

"Excellent." She said, turning back toward the Great Hall as she took Viktor's arm. She didn't want to fuel the fire with Harry and Ron more, but there was something so satisfying about doing so that Hermione couldn't resist.

When they strode past the Gryffindor table, Hermione didn't need to look over to know that Ron was gawking after them. She knew that what she was doing was the exact wrong way to go about fixing things and she knew she wasn't particularly interested in Viktor. She wasn't ready to let go of her anger just yet, no, she would ride it out a little longer for the sheer fun of it.

They took seats next to the other Durmstrang boys and Viktor began chattering to them about the tournament and the next challenge. Hermione was only half listening as she was too busy scanning the room more thoroughly than ever, finding no Malfoy in sight.

Once the winter Holiday had ended, classes at Hogwarts resumed as normal and Hermione began to fall back into her usual pattern of going to class, studying and trying to act as regular as possible around Ron. The pair had not spoken of their argument since the morning after the Yule Ball and Hermione was glad that he wasn't pressing the issue further, even though she disliked how awkward their conversations are these days.

Harry continued trying to unravel the clue for the second task, and he oftentimes confided in Ron and Hermione about his many concerns. Viktor Krum was also still hanging around. Whenever Hermione would go to the library to study, Viktor would accompany her and watch her work. It's not that she didn't enjoy his company, but she found that they were from such completely different world's that they had next to nothing to talk about.

Hermione still had also not had a chance to speak directly to Malfoy since the night of the dance as he seemed to be constantly surrounded by his usual band of Slytherins. Although she was almost certain that his polite demeanor was a one-time fluke, she couldn't help but wonder if she managed to get him separated again if he would be as kind as he had been several weeks before. The only encounter she had had with him at all was the occasional exchanging glance in the corridors between classes or across the tables of the Great Hall. These minuscule glances also reminded Hermione of what Malfoy had said the night of the ball. She couldn't help but notice that every time she caught Malfoy looking over he would be watching Hermione, seeming to study her actions around Harry and Ron.

One evening Hermione made her way to the library where as usual, Viktor sat next to her. She noted that he was focusing very little on his studies and mostly on watching her scrawl frantically across her parchment for her latest muggle studies assignment. Hermione was also vaguely aware of the regular stares of her fellow female classmates and the occasional sneering of Ron across the room.

"I just don't know how you can be so focused all the time." Viktor said suddenly.

Hermione continued writing so as not to lose her train of thought. After she completed her newest paragraph she replied, "I just find it easiest to get all my thoughts out on paper and then go back and edit them into something nicer for the final product."

Viktor frowned, "I don't have that many thoughts to scribble down, much less too many to go back and erase later."

From there Hermione took great pride in offering suggestions to Viktor's own essay and helping him get his thoughts organized into more direct sentences. After about a half an hour of proofreading and adding little notes to the margins on his paper, Hermione passed it back to him.

Viktor's eyes widened as he scanned through the corrections and suggestions she had written, "Wow, thanks Hermione, this is very helpful!" He exclaimed, taking a few minutes to write down some more thoughts of his own to add to the assignment. Hermione smiled at him and turned back to work on her own essay when she felt his hand make contact with her own. "I've never met someone that can help me get my point across like you can. Normally they will just tell me what to write or let me copy someone else's work."

Hermione, who had never approved of copying instantly thought of all the times she had tried to help Ron in this way and made notes for him to improve his work. Typically though instead or re-writing his essay to result in something new and improved, he would give up and copy Harry's work which Hermione also found to be sub-par most of the time.

"Well I am happy to help, and I hope that this will be helpful to you in the future should you find yourself stuck on something." She answered finally, Viktor still holding her hand in his own.

"Someday I'll find a way to repay you for all the help you have given me." He said, kissing Hermione's hand before getting up and excusing himself for the evening.

Hermione felt her heart flutter at the gesture, even though he wasn't the smartest wizard on the block, she thought that he had some of the best manners she had ever seen. She watched as he sauntered across the library and out the doors, turning to wave good-bye as he did. Once he had gone, Hermione looked over to where Harry and Ron were sitting and caught a glimpse of Ron's usual sour expression as he quickly tried to pretend as though he hadn't been spying on her and Viktor this whole time.

She very slowly and deliberately gathered her study materials and made her way over to where her two friends were sitting. Hermione casually slid in to the seat next to Harry and across from Ron, sprawling out her books as she did so.

"And what are you boy's working on tonight? I've only just completed my draft for my report in muggle studies and I've still got to do that work-up for potions class."

"I'm working on that now." Said Harry miserably. Harry's parchment was filled with his usual sloppy writing which looked to be written in very large text, Hermione supposed so that it took up more room on the two rolled assignment.

Ron gave no reply, a common thing these days and Hermione noted that his paper was still blank as usual. "Harry, might I see what you have so far? I don't know if I know where to start."

Harry nodded and scooted the paper over to her, removing his spectacles and rubbing his tired eyes. Hermione had barely began to read when…..

"Why don't you go ask to read Viktor's work?" Ron hissed.

Hermione blinked taken by surprise by the sudden outburst. "Honestly Ron, this again?"

"Don't 'honestly Ron' me! Every night it's the same thing! The two of you sit over there, letting him steal all your ideas and suggestions and then he gets up and waltzes off without having to do a spec of work. Really woman and you say I'm lazy…." He trailed off, turning his eyes back to his bare parchment and skulking.

"I resent that! He doesn't _steal_ my ideas, he _listens_ to them and it helps him get his work done sooner is all. And don't act like I haven't done the same for you countless times, you're just too daft to put any thought into it at all!"

Harry groaned fearing another argument coming on. He quickly tried to start work on his charms assignment to avoid getting involved.

"Yeah and like Krum is SO smart!" Ron returned hotly. "It's no wonder he's taken such an interest in you…you're the only one who's silly enough to think he actually wants help with his studies."

"Meaning what, exactly?!"

"Oh, come off it Hermione, you know exactly what I mean."

Hermione starred at Harry, willing him to speak up. "Right, er, well what Ron means to say is that it's pretty clear Krum has….other subjects he is interested in studying."

She felt her face blush, "Did it ever occur to you that he actually likes having someone to study with so that he can learn? Better yet, if the pair of you were so bothered by it you could have simply come and joined us and there'd be no need for this silly argument!"

At that moment the trio was shushed by the librarian to keep their voices down. Ron leaned across the table and said in a loud whisper, "Wouldn't want to interrupt you two love birds now would we?"

Hermione looked at Harry once more, thinking that at any given moment he was going to side with her and tell Ron he was overreacting, but he said nothing. In one swift motion, she swept her study materials off the old tabletop and stomped away from them.

Her temper flared as she hurried through the library's many aisles. _Who did they think they were anyway? What did they know? They were probably just jealous because they both idolized Krum but were incapable of making friends with him,_ she thought frantically to herself.

As Hermione reached for the handle of the large door exiting the library, she spotted Malfoy out of the corner of her eye. He was sitting in one of the more secluded tables all alone, quill in one hand copying a bit of text from a very large book he was holding open in the other.

She turned on her heels, pranced over to where he was working and slammed her textbooks down loudly as she took the seat opposite him. "Idiots!" She breathed.

Malfoy didn't look up, "Need something?" he asked flatly.

Hermione blinked as she consciously realized for the first time what she had just done. "Yes actually….I wanted to return this to you." She said rummaging through her bag and retrieving the satin handkerchief.

He watched as she placed it beneath his nose, "Was there something else?"

Hermione paused to ask herself why she had dared to walk over and sit down next to Draco Malfoy who had clearly suffered from a momentary lapse in judgment the night of the Yule Ball when he had taken such an interest in her. "No… I….er—suppose there is nothing else." She stammered.

Malfoy began writing an explanation of the text he had just copied below his work, "Well if you're sure there is noth—"

"Say things to me." Hermione commanded suddenly, "Like you did the other night, just say things to me to take my mind off things."

He looked up at her for the first time, a blank expression on his face. "Alright…" he said slowly, swallowing audibly, "Weasley is a prat."

"Forget it." Hermione frowned, collecting her books once more and getting to her feet.

Malfoy reached out and snagged the sleeve of her robe, "Wait," He said, looking nervously around the room. "would you like to come somewhere with me?"

Hermione blinked dumbfounded, "Okay." She said, her curiosity rising.

A crooked smile spread across Malfoy's face as he shut his book and abandoned his work, leading Hermione from the library by her sleeve.


	3. The Riverside

Once they were outside the library, Malfoy stopped and turned towards Hermione.

"You should go to your common room and drop off your things, then meet by the entrance of the great hall in fifteen minutes." He said calmly, stuffing his parchment haphazardly into his bag.

Hermione, still feeling like she was imagining this interaction stared at him open-mouthed. "Okay…it's getting rather late so we shouldn't be gone long."

Malfoy began trotting in the direction of his own house, "There's plenty of time, just go drop your stuff off." Just as Hermione turned in the opposite direction to set off toward Gryffindor tower she heard him call after her, "Oh and Granger? Dress warmly." He said flashing a sly smile over his shoulder.

As Hermione climbed the many sets of stairs on her way to her dormitory her thoughts were racing. Did she really go over and sit next to Draco Malfoy suddenly in the middle of the library? And why in the world was he offering to go somewhere with her? More importantly, where were they going?

She was equally as bewildered by this encounter as she had been by the last but her curiosity was tugging at her again. Of course the ball was weeks ago now, but she couldn't shake the feeling that ever since their exchange there was more to learn about the mysterious sworn-enemy of her best friend. Hermione wondered what Harry would say if he knew she had taken an interest in Malfoy and couldn't help but feel slightly guilty for associating with someone who Harry detested at such a high level. Still, the rational side of her told her that she really didn't know anything about Malfoy other than what Harry had been speculating for years, and even though he had been particularly nasty in years past, she couldn't remember the last time he had actually singled her out to say some foul string of insults. Maybe he was trying to turn over a new leaf or maybe he just wanted to find friendship. Whatever the reason, Hermione knew she had to find out for herself what this new side of him was all about and she'd omit telling Ron or Harry anything so that she could form her own un-biased opinion of him.

Hermione continued to have the same thoughts circling in her head as she absentmindedly got to work changing clothes. In no time at all she had dressed herself in a pair of chocolate brown corduroys with her favorite boots and a heavy light-pink sweater. She added a soft white winter vest over the top before pausing to check her reflection in the mirror. Pleased with her appearance she hastened from the girls dormitory on her way to the great hall.

He was already waiting for her when she got there. Malfoy was studying one of the large portraits decorating the wall when he caught a glimpse of Hermione out of the corner of his eye. "Ready?" He questioned, turning to meet her.

Hermione nodded and looked around trying to decide if the few lingering students were watching them. Malfoy set off in front of her toward the door leading to the western grounds of Hogwarts.

"We're going outside?!" Hermione exclaimed, "It's the middle of winter and nearly nightfall."

"Nearly nightfall." Malfoy repeated, the same sly smile spreading across his lips. He pulled open the large wooden door and held it for Hermione to cross in front of him. Once outside, he veered off in the direction of the river on one of the many winding paths that surrounded the castle. After a few moments of silence he spoke again, "Nervous Granger? Afraid you'll get in trouble?"

Truthfully Hermione was always a little nervous when she boarded on breaking school rules but had become rather accustomed to being out of the castle at night with Harry and Ron so she knew it was nothing completely new. "Not at all." She smiled, "Are you going to tell me where we're going?"

"Not a chance." Malfoy replied, "But trust me, its better if it's a surprise."

Hermione had to hasten to keep up with him and after a few more minutes had passed, Malfoy seemed to notice and slowed his pace. They exchanged several awkward glances along the way and Hermione suspected neither one of them knew what to say. The sun was starting to fall from the sky which told them that in a little more than a half an hour, it would be sunset and if they were still outside they would be breaking school rules. Malfoy seemed to care little about this fact as he led them further and further from the main areas of Hogwarts.

Once they had reached a rather open area of the grounds, Malfoy turned from the path and stepped onto an area that was covered with fresh snow. He held out his hand to Hermione to help her step over one of the large rocks lining the path.

"Good thing I wore boots." She said taking his hand and cautiously stepping onto the snowy earth beneath her.

"Yet you forgot mittens." Malfoy noted. "Here, take mine." He said removing his own black gloves and offering them to her.

"I'm fine, really."

"Your hands will freeze Granger, just take them. Besides, I'm used to the crippling cold being trapped in the dungeons most of the time."

Hermione laughed and gratefully took the gloves from him, noticing for the first time how cold her hands actually were. "Thank you." She replied.

"So are you going to tell me what they did this time?" Malfoy asked suddenly.

Hermione blinked, "What do you mean?"

He scoffed. "Why else would you have come and sat with me?"

She had to admit, he was observant…then again, maybe it was just a lucky guess. "I had to return your handkerchief." She lied.

"Nice try. Knowing those two they said some dim-witted thing."

"Yes and no." Hermione answered, pausing to look at him as they now walked side by side through the few inches of snow crunching loudly at their feet. "Harry didn't really say anything at all and Ron….well Ron is just Ron."

"I see." Malfoy said awkwardly. "Weasel-bee still upset about Krum I take it?"

Hermione nodded in response. Feeling her annoyance with Harry's lack of involvement and Ron's mouthy comments return she ranted on, "I can't understand where he gets off being upset. Firstly, there isn't anything going on with Viktor and I, but even if there was its Ron's issue to work through and not mine. And secondly, why can't he just have a conversation with me about it instead of acting like a child?!"

"And that's a rhetorical question I take it?" Malfoy asked, stopping in his tracks.

Hermione stopped as well and studied his face for a moment before breaking into laughter, "He really isn't as bad as you think."

He hesitated before giving his response and beginning to walk again, "Maybe, but I reckon Potter is." This time, Hermione made no attempt to follow after him. Malfoy must have realized his error soon enough because he turned back toward her. "Sorry." He said nervously, watching Hermione intently again.

She thought about lecturing him for bashing Harry and Ron so openly, but reconsidered as everyone knew full-well the two sides had a long standing history of distaste for one another. "It's fine." She answered quickly. "Are we almost there?"

"It's a bit farther yet, but we're getting close now." He said, seeming relieved that she wasn't offended.

They resumed walking once more and after a long minute Hermione spoke, "Malfoy, if you don't mind my asking, why you dislike Harry so much?" She couldn't believe she had just asked that, or that she was wondering around the castle with Draco Malfoy—that is, someone who resembled the appearance of Draco Malfoy but acted nothing like him. Hermione began questioning her sudden interest in him again and felt her nerves rise as she waited for him to reply.

Malfoy looked taken aback by her loaded question and took a long time to speak again, carefully planning out his response in his mind first. "Well, I suppose it started because of the things my father would always say. That and the fact that the first time we met I was immature and thought I knew everything of course."

Hermione listened keenly to his answer, "So you share your father's opinion then?"

He looked rather uncomfortable speaking about the topic and didn't make eye contact with Hermione while he spoke, "I did at first because I didn't know any better but now I'm not so sure. I started picking on him first year because I thought it was funny and the more time that went on it just became common."

"Then why not try and be nice to him like you have been with me? Harry's not at all like you think."

Malfoy chuckled, "Look, I'm sure Potter is a nice guy but we are too different to ever be friends. There's already been too much damage done, admittedly mostly by me."

"Well it's never too late to change." Hermione nagged. "I don't understand why you can't be the bigger person."

He sighed heavily, "I just get so sick of everyone worshipping the kid all the time. I mean really it's _all the time._ Everywhere I go I constantly hear about the famous Harry Potter. You probably can't understand because you're close with him but to an outsider it's truly annoying."

Hermione laughed, surprised by his honesty. "I guess I could see that getting old. But there really is no reason to torment him, it's not his fault he's famous."

"He draws more attention to himself than he needs to. It may have started as an immature way of getting at him, but over the years it's become a rather fun past-time of mine." He smiled as he watched Hermione begin to laugh a little, "And you know what the best reason for doing it is don't you?"

"No, what's that?"

"Because he just makes it so damn easy! I mean literally all I have to do is look at him wrong and it gets under his skin."

"Well, yes he does let his temper get the best of him rather quickly. Sometimes I find that annoying about him." Hermione responded.

"In all seriousness though," Malfoy continued, "Even if I tried to be friendly with him, after this many years he would never trust me. I figure it's best to keep my distance and just let it be what it will. Just because I can't get along with the guy doesn't mean that I think no one should. I can't understand why you're friends with him Granger, but I respect the fact that others might see something different than me."

Hermione nodded, taking the signal that he was bringing the topic to a close and rubbed her gloved hands together vigorously to warm them.

"We're here!" Malfoy exclaimed holding a nearby tree branch out of the way so that Hermione could come forward.

"Oh my gosh!" She cried, "This place is beautiful!"

"This is my favorite place to come at Hogwarts." He said, watching Hermione take in the scenery.

He had led them to a place Hermione had never seen before. It was along the edge of the river in the middle of a thicket of large white birch trees and several weeping willows. The sun was beginning to set and the brilliant reds and oranges of the disappearing light made the snow sparkle like glitter. She imagined how thrilling it would be to see it in the spring time when the grass was growing and the river was beginning to thaw.

"I've never been here before." Hermione said still awe-struck. "I thought I'd seen nearly every inch of the Hogwarts grounds."

"Not many people come here since it's pretty far from the castle. I like to come out here when I need a distraction from everything. Figured you might enjoy it." Malfoy stared off in the distance at the setting sun and another silence crept in-between them.

Hermione wandered along the edge of the frozen river and thought about how much this place reminded her of one of the Muggle parks her parents would take her to as a child. She would spend hours by the riverside skipping pebbles across the water with her father and swinging on the tree swing nearby.

"I used to come to a place just like this when I was young. It was my dad's favorite spot to read. I used to bring bread to feed the ducks in the river and in the winter we'd go ice skating. If there was an old swing here, it would be nearly identical."

Malfoy stepped closer to where she was standing, "Do you want to start back toward the castle before it gets dark?"

"No." Hermione said breathlessly, "Let's stay here for a little while until the sun sets." She was so immersed in the memories of her youth for a second she forgot she was away at school and that she was in the company of the once-loathed Malfoy. She looked at him and smiled, "Are you sure you aren't still setting me up for some horrible trick."

Malfoy frowned and Hermione regretted her words at once. "This again?" He asked.

Hermione's thoughts raced, thinking that he did seem like he was trying to be very genuine and hadn't given her any reason to suspect he was up to something. She thought back to her vow from earlier in the night when she decided to put the past behind her and form her own opinion. "I'm sorry, this is all so unusual."

"I suppose I deserve your suspicion after all the horrible things I've said to you."

Hermione said nothing and turned her attention back toward the sun that was sinking rapidly in the sky. She gave a sudden shudder at the cold breeze sweeping off the frozen river and crossed her arms tightly across her chest.

"Here." Said Malfoy, stripping off his black, woolen overcoat and wrapping it around Hermione's shoulders.

"Thank you." Hermione said as the warmth washed over her. She met his gaze and starred up at his grey eyes glistening in the remaining rays of light. She thought that it looked as though he may start to cry. His strong hands were still rested on Hermione's shoulders and she was standing so close that she could smell the scent of him, a light, airy smell that reminded her faintly of sandalwood.

"Hermione?" He asked breaking the silence.

"Yes?"

"I really am sorry for the way I've treated you—and for calling you a Mudblood and all the other horrible things. My ignorance was inexcusable. Every time you look at me I can't help but think how much you must hate me and….well—you just need to know how sorry I am and that I don't think that little of you."

Hermione could scarcely believe her ears. Was this for real? It didn't even seem like the same person to her anymore. This was far from the same boy that for the last four years she had been forbidden to talk to and despised seeing around school because of his constant provoking. In the back of her mind she wondered what had happened to bring on this sudden change of heart but she couldn't help but be moved by his apology.

"Oh Draco…" She sighed, stretching up on her tip toes to give him a hug. Malfoy bent down and rested his cheek against Hermione's bushy hair. After a long moment, they parted ways, Hermione's gaze still fixated on him.

"Do you know that that was the first time you have ever called me by my first name?" He asked quietly, a smile on his lips again.

 **A/N:** Alright, albeit not a terribly exciting chapter but stick with me, I'm building up to something good. I'll try to get the next chapter up within the next few days. One thing I should note is that while I'm in the process of writing this story I am re-reading the books along with it so that I can pull certain events from each year at Hogwarts as the story progresses. That being said, it may take me some time to arrange it to my liking and so I apologize if I post a flurry of chapters followed by a bit of a lull. Please and thank you for your patience and reviews.


	4. All You Need to Know

"Blimey, is it that late already?!" Hermione shrieked hearing the clock tower strike nine in the distance. The sun had long ago set and Draco and Hermione sat beneath one of the many large willow trees talking avidly about everything from their favorite places of the castle to life before Hogwarts.

"Wow, we had better get back to the castle." Malfoy answered, getting to his feet and holding out his hand to help Hermione up.

"We'll never get inside unseen; it'll be a month's detention for sure!" Hermione fretted.

"Rubbish." Answered Malfoy, a crooked smile painted on his face, "You just have to know where to go."

"Ah, you've taken a keen interest in memorizing all the secret passages to the castle as well I take it?" She questioned in her most disapproving tone.

"Well maybe not all, but most of them, yes. And to be fair, they aren't really that secret are they? Half the school knows at least two or three creative ways of getting in and out."

Hermione couldn't help but think of Fred and George Weasley and their sheer devotion to map out every inch of Hogwarts for their shenanigans. Malfoy surely wouldn't know any of the ways that they didn't know about. This thought somehow made her feel better about breaking the rules. After all, the Weasley twins were almost always up to no good and she and Malfoy weren't doing anything troublesome; perhaps Malfoy happened upon the passage by accident and never actually went looking for them. Yes…that would be what she would tell herself.

In no time at all the great Hogwarts castle was stretching before them. Malfoy veered off in the direction of the courtyard where he wedged open a small door at the base of the wall allowing him and Hermione to enter.

When they emerged, they had climbed several flights of stairs and found themselves in one of the many fourth floor corridors. Hermione noted they exited through a painting of a very peculiar looking witch with a long nose and wide set eyes darning a purple cloak.

"Excellent." Said Hermione, pleased that they had arrived unnoticed.

"Told you; nothing to worry about."

"Do I dare make the assumption that the only reason you are so calm about this is because you've done it a time or two before?"

Malfoy opened his mouth to answer but quickly closed it and peered around the corner. "Filch!" He whispered, snagging Hermione's arm and darting down the corridor in the opposite direction.

"I know someone's messing around out here! It's always someone!" She heard Filch mutter in the distance.

Malfoy moved almost soundlessly as he navigated the hallways of the school, Hermione in toe, her heart racing with fear of being caught.

"In here!" Malfoy ordered, pushing Hermione inside an abandoned room and shutting the door in one swift, noiseless motion. He turned to look at Hermione who was leaned against a dusty bookcase, slightly out of breath. "Bit too exciting for you Granger?" He smirked.

Hermione let out a loud laugh, "I wish I could say I wasn't used to it." She panted.

Malfoy stepped closer to her and also slumped against the bookcase, laughing a little. "I knew I should have stayed in tonight and finished my potions work up. Sneaking around the castle with you is bound to get a bloke caught; what with your loud feet plodding behind is enough to wake up the whole school!"

Hermione threw her head back laughing and then stopped abruptly, "Drat!" She cried, "The potions essay! I completely forgot how much work I still have to do, I was going to have my draft finished tonight!"

"It's not due until next week, there's plenty of time." Malfoy urged.

"No you don't understand." Hermione shook her head, "Potions is the absolute worst! I spend more time on those assignments than any other. I always end up getting fairly good marks but I have to work so hard at it that I always start those before anything else to give myself extra time."

He paused, "Well, potions isn't bad for me. Plus, we have double lecture tomorrow which might help you better understand what we're learning."

"Not likely!" She huffed, "Snape usually just loads a ton of information on us and makes it even more confusing."

"I could help you after class is over. I've already got a good start on mine."

Hermione blinked, taken off-guard by his gesture. She wasn't sure if he was being serious or if he was only offering to be nice. How long could these strange meetings continue between them she wondered. "It would be nice to have someone look over what I've done so far…" She thought out loud.

"Indeed." Malfoy agreed, "Right then, I'll wait for you by the main staircase when class is over. Come on… I think Filch has likely moved on by now, we had best be getting back to our houses."

Slowly, he opened the door and peered outside. Noting that the coast was clear, he motioned Hermione forward.

She hastened through the door consciously trying to be as quiet as possible, "I'll see you in the morning." She whispered, turning in the direction of the stairs.

"Goodnight." Malfoy replied simply before he glided in the opposite direction just as swiftly and quietly as he did before.

Hermione let her thoughts wander on the way back to the Gryffindor common room. Her spirits were feeling lifted after an enjoyable evening with Malfoy. Their encounters still seemed so bizarre to her yet she loved the rush of excitement she felt at how new and different it was. How very unexpected it all was indeed; who knew she could actually enjoy herself around someone who, up until a few weeks ago, she thought she hated? Most of all, Hermione was glad to see that Malfoy did in fact show signs of remorse for his actions as she recalled the pained look on his face down by the riverside earlier that evening.

Hermione did wish however that she would have been able to say a proper goodbye as not to seem rude, but she figured with the circumstances of roaming around after hours it was likely best that they kept it short. Besides, she would see him the next day in potions class and again afterward to set to work on the dreaded task of writing Snape's latest essay. As she mulled it over to herself once more, she thought for about the one-thousandth time that night how strange it felt to be making plans with Malfoy. Stranger still was the fact that she was looking forward to them! Her curiosity was still propelling her forward and she thought that if anything, their meet-ups would be short lived and they would go on as mere acquaintances rather than sworn enemies. In any case, Hermione couldn't find a reason not to keep investigating these new developments further and was feeling even more curious than she had before.

As she stepped through the porthole of the painting of the Fat Lady, Hermione unzipped her white vest and began fiddling with the zipper that always tended to get caught near the bottom of the track.

"It's about time!" A sudden voice exclaimed.

Hermione's eyes snapped up, startled by the outburst bringing her face to face with Ron.

"Oh….hello Ronald." She said casually as she strolled by him.

"Don't Ronald me! Do you realize that Harry and I have been looking everywhere for you? Where have you been all night?! You left the library hours ago."

"Disappointed you missed out on a whole night of tormenting me?"

Ron blinked stupidly having seemingly forgotten their heated exchange about Viktor from earlier. "We'd no idea where you'd gone! Harry talked me into asking you if you wanted to study with us for a bit and afterward join us for a tournament of wizard's chess. But when we went looking for you, you were nowhere to be found!"

"Maybe I didn't want to be found." Hermione huffed, her back still to Ron.

"Come off it Hermione. If you weren't so bloody stubborn all the time, we could have had a nice evening…. instead, Harry and I walked the castle about fifty times trying to figure out where you'd gone and worrying you had gotten into some kind of trouble!"

This statement made Hermione laugh out loud, "Because _I_ would definitely be the one to go looking for trouble. And really…I'M the stubborn one? Open your eyes Ron. _You're_ the one who keeps making my helping Viktor with his studies into more than it is, and YOU'RE the one who has a problem with it and constantly picks a fight with me instead of just letting it be!" She had wheeled around to face him now, making no attempt to hold back her rage with his behavior. Ron stood frozen in his place listening to Hermione lay into him as she stepped closer and closer the more angry she got. "And for your information…..I did have a nice evening. Goodnight Ron." She concluded calmly and headed off to the girls dormitory without another word.

When she reached the comfort of her four-poster at last, her annoyance with Ron was still lingering but she was pleased with the way she stood up for herself. She was even more amused by the fact that Ron had taken a sudden interest in her whereabouts and that he had waited up for her to confront her about it.

It was now nearing half past ten and most of the girls had drawn their tapestries and gone off to bed. Hermione pulled her curtains shut, allowing her to be alone with her thoughts once more. She wrestled the zipper free from its snag and removed her vest before pulling her heavy sweater over her head. She paused; holding the sweater in her grasp, Hermione lifted it to her nose and inhaled deeply. She closed her eyes and let the cool smell left behind from Malfoy's jacket wash over her.

Hermione smiled remembering the exhilarating feeling of running from Filch, the serenity of the riverside and the alluring pull of her curiosity that led her to spend the whole night with Draco Malfoy. She recalled their plans to meet up after class tomorrow and crawled into bed eager to see what was in store for her, falling quickly asleep without another thought of her two altercations with Ron.

When Hermione awoke the next morning, she deliberately hung around the girl's dormitory working on tidbits of homework to take up the time. She had no desire whatsoever to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast and sit through another interrogation from Harry and Ron. Hermione didn't know if it was because she had slept so soundly the night before, or if it was because today was Friday but she felt unusually chipper and didn't want to take any chances on spoiling her good mood.

At half passed nine, Hermione gathered her study materials in her bag and set off in the direction of potions class. She must have walked faster than usual because she arrived much earlier than customary. Today's class was a double session between fourth year Gryffindor and Slytherin house. There were only a few students that had arrived before her, mostly from Slytherin but a few from Gryffindor as well.

Hermione took her usual seat in the third row of the class and began scanning through her notes from the last lecture. She didn't get much more than a quarter of the way though when….

"Draco!...Draco, over here! I saved you a seat."

Hermione lifted her gaze to the left-hand side of the room where she saw none other than Pansy Parkinson waving Malfoy over to the spot right beside her. She looked way too eager to direct him, being as there were well over half the seats still open.

Malfoy drifted past Hermione coolly and slid in next to Pansy without uttering a word. Of course he was accompanied by the always faithful Crabbe and Goyle who loudly lumbered into the room and sat right behind Malfoy.

Hermione sighed to herself thinking " _Typical."_ and tried desperately to concentrate again on her notes but she found herself oddly distracted by watching Malfoy settle in. She noted how elegant and smooth all of his movements seemed to be and how he arranged his books and parchment just so on the table-top. She was so distracted in fact that she scarcely noticed Harry and Ron shuffle into the room.

"Probably had to get to potions extra early just to make us look bad…." Ron muttered to Harry before taking the spot open on Hermione's left.

"Oh, good morning boys." She said, pulling her attention away from Malfoy who was now being engaged in conversation by Pansy.

"'Good morning', she says… like there's nothing wrong." Scoffed Ron.

"What is your problem this time?!" Hermione demanded crossly.

"It's too early in the morning for this, children..."Harry growled irritably on Hermione's right.

Just as Ron was about to open his mouth to protest, Professor Snape burst in with his usual impatience, commanding the attention of the room. There was no time for bickering once the lecture began. Hermione scribbled fresh notes frantically while Harry wrote down one paragraph to Hermione's five and Ron sat slumped in his chair and attempted not to fall asleep.

Midway through the course, Snape allowed the class to break up into groups to discuss potential ways to correct a potion that had been tainted by overusing some of the ingredients.

"What do you think Ron?" Hermione asked him after rambling on for quite some time about how she thought the best possible option was to add equal amounts of each ingredient to counteract it.

"I don't even know what we're talking about anymore…." He replied dejectedly, "Say 'Mione…. Mind if I peek at your notes?"

Hermione loved it when Ron called her that. She also loved that whenever he was really desperate he would put on his nicest pleading voice and inch closer to her. For a moment, she thought about snatching her paper away and berating him for not paying attention but the second she caught the scent of his skin only inches from hers, she instantly lost her train of thought.

"If it'll help." She answered, sliding the thick stack of notes over and taking a moment to enjoy the look on his face when she agreed. Ron's face instantly lit up as he eagerly looked over Hermione's handiwork.

"Thanks 'Mione!" Ron said as he lifted his gorgeous blue eyes to look directly at her and rested his hand gently on top of her own.

What was she mad at him for again?

When class had finally concluded, the room cleared out in a hurry and Harry was busy seething about how Snape purposely made his lectures more confusing when he was around. Hermione ignored his usual angst and collected her things.

"Wish we didn't have stupid divination next period." Ron skulked. "How'd you get so lucky that you only have the one class today Hermione?"

"Probably has something to do with the fact that she's got about a million others to worry about during the week." Harry interjected.

The waters seemed to have settled between them again, for now. The three meandered into the Great Hall for a bit of lunch and were soon talking amongst themselves like usual. Hermione was grateful that they weren't questioning her endlessly about Krum for a change and that Ron had calmed down significantly since last night.

She was having a hard time focusing on making much conversation with them though as her eyes kept darting to the clock to check the time every thirty seconds. Hermione was attempting to piece together some excuse to get away so she could meet Malfoy but was coming up with nothing believable seeing as they all knew she didn't have any other courses to get to that afternoon. Harry and Ron's divination class didn't start for another forty minutes and Hermione was certainly not going to be that late to their study session.

Harry suddenly changed the topic of discussion to the looming second task, "So Hermione, I was thinking about the second clue again and I wanted to ask you if you knew anything about….."

"Sorry Harry," She blurted out suddenly, "I've only just remembered that I told Ginny I'd help her with her astronomy homework. I had better go and find her. See you later then."

Hermione quickly swept up her bag and walked out of the hall before Harry could give a response. It wasn't her best excuse, but when had she ever been good at lying? When she was just outside the doors she paused to steal a quick look back at her two friends who were sitting at the table looking very confused by her sudden departure. She didn't have long to feel guilty about her little fib because as soon as she turned forward again she saw Malfoy leaned casually against the grand staircase waiting for her.

"Sorry I'm late." She breathed walking over.

Malfoy smiled maliciously, "It's okay, I'm sure even Potter and Weasley have enough brains to survive an afternoon without you." Hermione could have done without his sass but decided not to take issue with it. "Come on, I'll show you my favorite place to study."

"Aren't we going to the library?" Hermione asked.

"I hate the library." Malfoy answered as he began up the stairs. "I only go there when I absolutely need to."

Hermione was perplexed by how anyone could dislike the library but followed after him without question. She felt like they were starting to attract stares from nearby students who were no doubt wondering why she and Malfoy were within a ten foot radius of one another and silently hoped to herself that Harry and Ron hadn't seen.

Malfoy led Hermione to the sixth floor near the entrance to the north tower. It was a room she had never seen before and appeared to have been unused for some time now. The room was filled with buckets of natural light pouring in from the massive windows and contained a large amount of miscellaneous clutter. There was only one space in the center of the room that was perfectly clear from debris except for a large oak table and a long wooden bench pulled alongside it.

"And you come here why?" Hermione asked.

"Because it's quiet and no one would think of coming here. Besides, you can't beat that view."

He was right; the oversized windows provided the perfect view of the vast countryside sprawling endlessly out ahead.

"Do you always make it a priority to be constantly alone?"

"Are we going to study potions or play twenty questions?" Malfoy smiled as he arranged his textbooks on the large table.

Hermione sighed heavily being reminded of all the work she still had to do. "My head might explode from potions overload."

Malfoy chuckled, "Tell you what Granger, for every page of writing you get done today you can ask me one burning question since you seem to have so many of them."

She felt her face go a bit pink, her obsession with learning as much as possible tended to spill over to everyday conversation from time to time and she often forgot that it made people uncomfortable. "Deal." She said taking a seat on the bench and pulling out the start of her draft.

It didn't take long for Hermione to completely re-work her entire first page. After running her eyes over Malfoy's paper she felt like she comprehended a lot more than she initially thought.

"Well….?" Malfoy asked as Hermione finished scribbling the first paragraph of her second page.

"Well, what?"

"Didn't you have an arsenal of burning questions to ask me?"

She smiled, "I had no idea you were so good at this stuff! Reading over your notes makes it sound so simple!"

"It helps having Snape as the head of your house; you get pretty used to filtering out the excess nonsense he adds to everything." Malfoy replied.

"I'm sure you're just being modest. This was so helpful, I have so many ideas I need to get down, I'm afraid I'll forget them if I stop now."

"Then by all means, proceed." Malfoy said, turning his attention back to his own assignment.

Hermione was very impressed at his focus; it was a pleasant change from the way she was used to studying. Most of the time people were either begging for her help or busy interrupting her with talk of unrelated things.

Once she had finished the second page in the five page assignment, Malfoy helped Hermione address some of the critical thinking topics by showing her some helpful sections scattered throughout the textbook. Before she knew it, she had over six pages of material was feeling much more at ease about the content of the essay. Now she could do what she did best which was condensing it down into precisely what she wanted to say.

Malfoy had moved on to practicing his charms incantations over by one of the large windows and was now busy pouring over his book while sprawled across the floor.

"Right, I think I've got a good handle on it all now." Hermione said, settling down on the floor next to him looking very pleased.

Malfoy looked up at her and gently closed the cover of his textbook, "See, potions isn't that difficult."

Hermione noticed him rubbing his eyes vigorously, "Are you alright, you look a bit peeky?"

"It's just a headache." He replied, sitting upright. "Are you hungry?"

Hermione's stomach gave a low murmur at the thought of food, "Well, now that you mention it I'm starved! We must have been working for hours!"

Malfoy nodded in agreement and silently got to his feet. He disappeared behind one of the large stacks of clutter momentarily and returned carrying a small bag. He then took his seat on Hermione's right and opened the parcel to reveal an array of snacks. "Thought it might be a good idea to have a little something to eat."

"How very thoughtful." Hermione commented as Malfoy handed her a helping of cheese and crackers. "Do I get to ask my questions now?" She asked while gratefully munching on a cracker.

Malfoy smiled widely as he grabbed a fistful of grapes and leaned against the stone wall. "I guess I had better keep up my end of the bargain, eh?"

Suddenly she was having a hard time remembering any of the questions she had wanted to ask earlier, "Erm—what's your favorite color?"

"Seriously Granger? Out of all the things you could ask, are really going to waste a question on asking my favorite color?"

"Well, I thought I'd start you off with an easy one." She countered smugly.

Malfoy's sideways smile returned upon hearing this statement revealing his perfectly white set of teeth. "It's green. Now can we move on? That's one question Granger, you've got five more." He answered, half laughing.

"What do you like to do in your free time-other than lurk about the castle with Crabbe and Goyle?"

"Read… Four more."

Hermione was surprised to hear that Malfoy enjoyed reading; she didn't think he looked the type. She _wanted_ to ask all sorts of follow up questions like what sort of books he liked to read, who his favorite author was and if he knew anything about a book she had recently heard of and was dying to read but instead she went with…..

"What is one weird thing about you?"

Malfoy took a few seconds to think, "I never learned how to read music but I can play the piano very well."

"Really?" Hermione asked.

"Yes; and that counts as a question. Two left. Come on, you must want to ask something more interesting?" Malfoy urged.

Hermione thought for a moment to herself. She had loads of questions she wanted answers to but none of them were appropriate for getting to know someone better. There were dozens of rumors that Harry had speculated over the years that she desperately wanted to find out if there was any truth to them, but she didn't want to bring up Harry or Ron since she felt like that was all they ever seemed to talk about. "There is one thing I'm very curious about…." She said slowly and cautiously.

"Which is?"

Hermione reached over and gently grabbed hold of Malfoy's left arm, "Where in the world did you get this ghastly scar?" She asked as she traced her fingers over the long scar that curved around nearly the entirety of his forearm.

Malfoy's face fell when he looked down at it and remained quiet for a long while. Hermione instantly regretted asking since it clearly made him uncomfortable but she had been wondering about it for some time now.

After several moments had passed, Malfoy finally replied, "That's from last year when Hagrid's bloody chicken attacked me during class."

Hermione furrowed her brow in thought thinking that this had to have been the result of a much deeper laceration, "No….that was your _right_ arm. I remember because I had to write all your notes for you since you couldn't take down your own."

Malfoy locked eyes with Hermione and drew in a deep breath after another stretch of silence, "My father is a difficult person to please at times." He said before he withdrew his arm and quickly unrolled his sleeves to cover it.

Hermione understood fully and felt horrible for bringing up such a difficult topic, "I'm sorry, I had no idea." She breathed.

His face was still rather grave looking; he was clearly troubled by the memory of whatever had happened. "It's okay. Most people don't tend to notice it so I forget that it's there."

She didn't want to press him about it further but her mind was now busy thinking up all the possible reasons that Lucius Malfoy had concocted for laying hands on his own son, "Will you tell me what happened?"

Malfoy gave a weak smile, "Maybe someday I'll tell you about it Granger, and I won't count that as your last question but for now…you have one more thing to ask me."


	5. Addicted

"Hermione! Hermione, come on already!"

Hermione awoke with a start to the sound her name being shouted by Harry and Ron from the Gryffindor common room Saturday morning. She hadn't slept much at all the night before and when she opened her eyes to see the sunlight streaming through the window, the girl's dormitory completely cleared out, she was reminded that today was one of the days that students were permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade. She, Harry and Ron had made plans ages ago to go to the village together.

"Ugh." Hermione groaned clapping a hand over her eyes, feeling completely exhausted.

"Hey, Hermione we know you're up there, let's get a move on before breakfast is all gone!" She heard Ron holler.

Hermione sat up in her bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, "Just go on without me, I'll meet you downstairs in a few moments!" She yelled back in response.

She couldn't be sure since her dormitory was a quite a ways away from the common room but she thought she heard Rom mutter something along the lines of, "Women, are they ever ready to go?" Before he and Harry exited through the portrait hole.

Suddenly, everything came flooding back to Hermione from the night before. She felt a sort of nervousness rising in the pit of her stomach as she recalled fully what had happened. "Oh Merlin," she breathed to herself, flopping back down across her bed, "what in the world is going on?"

 _Hermione was impressed that Malfoy so calmly grazed over the uneasy subject of his abusive father and was grateful that she hadn't upset him. It was clear though that he was uncomfortable discussing it and a change of topic was definitely needed._

 _She pondered to herself for a moment, nabbing a fistful of grapes and popping some into her mouth._

" _Alright," she began slowly as if to build suspense, "for my final question….I want to know…..if you've got something going on with Pansy Parkinson that the rest of the school doesn't know about." She concluded smugly, eating another few grapes._

 _Malfoy gave a low chuckle, "That one's fancied me for years she has."_

 _Hermione thought back to the scene she had witnessed earlier in the day in which Pansy had been so over-eager to welcome Malfoy to class. "Well she certainly wasn't hiding it this morning, was she? Come to think of it, last year when you hurt your arm she was hanging all over you as well."_

" _What do you want me to say, Granger?"_

" _Stop stalling and answer the question." Hermione prodded. She wasn't particularly interested in the answer, but she figured it was a good, light-hearted subject that would be sure to lift the mood. Earlier that morning was the first time Hermione had paid any attention to pair of them at all and it made her wonder if there was more to them than she was seeing._

" _Pansy is—great and all but no, there never has and never will be anything going on." Malfoy replied, half-laughing._

" _Hmm, seems she might think differently about that."_

" _Probably because I took her to that bloody dance and now it's got her thinking all sorts of rubbish." Malfoy crinkled up his nose at the thought._

 _Hermione hesitated for a brief moment, "Why did you take her then if you weren't interested?"_

" _I couldn't well go to the thing alone now could I? Besides, she'd been dropping hints about it for weeks so I figured I might as well oblige her."_

" _You boys are all the same…"Hermione trailed off thinking about how many hints she had dropped to Ron that he never picked up on. For a moment she felt bad for Pansy and wondered if she was in the same situation with Malfoy as she was in with Ron, "all you want is a date for the evening; anything else would be much too bothersome."_

 _Malfoy shot her a sideways glance, seeming to read her mind, "If you think for even one second that Parkinson and I are anything like you and Weasley, you are sadly mistaken."_

" _Oh really, and how so?" Hermione asked testily, straightening up with curiosity._

" _For starters—we have nothing in common. She's only interested in my because she likes to follow around and feel like she's part of our posse; if any of us are on our own, we're practically invisible to her. I suspect she's just coveting a higher status and thinks she's obtained one by spending so much time with Crabbe, Goyle and I." Malfoy stated in a matter-of-fact tone of voice._

' _Higher status.' Hermione repeated in her mind thinking that was a very Malfoy-esque thing to say and that regardless of his new, friendlier demeanor, he clearly still thought more highly of himself than most other people._

 _Malfoy rambled on, "For another thing, the girl is completely daft and can scarcely figure anything out on her own. She's always asking for help and doesn't have an ounce of confidence to do her own thing; she's always got to shadow behind someone else."_

 _Apparently Hermione had hit a nerve with this subject and she laughed a little as he expressed his annoyance with her._

" _And don't even get me started on what it was like to be with her at the ball."_

" _Why's that now?" Hermione questioned._

 _Malfoy exchanged glances with Hermione again, looking very rattled at the memory of the Yule Ball, "The girl can't dance at all, can she?!"_

 _Hermione laughed out loud, surprised that of all the things to be annoyed with someone for, poor dancing skills were at the top of Malfoy's list._

" _I mean really…." Malfoy said as he got to his feet and motioned for Hermione to do the same. "How would you like to dance with this all night?!"_

 _Malfoy seized Hermione by the waist and pulled her into dancing formation. He started to sway back and forth for a few seconds before breaking out into an overly-dramatized imitation of Pansy's dancing, stumbling boisterously over his feet and acting as clumsy as possible._

 _Hermione was laughing uncontrollably at his ridiculous appearance; it looked incredibly odd to see Malfoy, whose motions were usually so fluid and smooth, flailing around like a drunken elephant. Surely Pansy couldn't have been this uncoordinated._

 _Malfoy continued mocking her enthusiastically, pulling Hermione about in a jerky, awkward manner. He purposely tread on her feet a time or two and faltered around for few more moments before Hermione was overcome with laughter and clutching her right side. Malfoy snickered a little as he watched Hermione recover, smoothing his white-blonde hair back into place._

 _After Hermione had ceased laughing, Malfoy spoke again, "Now, if I were to dance with someone like you for example…"he said, holding out his hand to offer a dance. Hermione placed her small hand in his and humored him by curtseying for the façade. Malfoy in turn bent into a bow, flashing his brilliant smile, seemingly amused at her willingness to play along. He gripped her waist again but this time began stepping much more gracefully and swiftly as if he was a polished performer. "…I'd imagine it to be something rather….." his voice broke off as he spun Hermione outwards and twirled her round before pulling her back in to come face to face with him, "flawless." He concluded, staring down into her brown eyes._

 _Hermione's heart was racing again at the electric thrill of their impromptu dance. She fell silent and looked up at Malfoy's face, all signs of laughter wiped away and replaced by a look of calm collectedness._

 _She felt his cool hand brush against the side of her face and she closed her eyes as he bent closer to her, breathing in his unmistakable scent. The next thing she felt was a peculiar fluttery feeling as Malfoy gently pressed his lips to hers and pulled Hermione in tighter._

 _Hermione didn't resist. She reached up and hooked her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss._

When she snapped back into reality, her head was swimming with a million different questions and feelings. She wondered how in the world this had happened, if it really did happen or if it was all a dream, and most curiously of all—would it happen again? Did she want it to?

Hermione shuddered at the thought, thinking that the universe was definitely messing with her and trying to send her some kind of message. It all had happened so quickly, she still wasn't sure what to make of it all. After they had parted, there was a long silence before Hermione very awkwardly excused herself and hurried out of the room. Perhaps it was a one-time lapse in judgment or they both just got caught up in the moment.

She wished desperately that she could talk to her good friend Ginny about it. Hermione thought seriously about telling Ginny everything except for who the exchange had taken place with in an attempt to get her advice, but there was no way she could tell her something like this and leave out the most crucial detail of all…that she had kissed Draco Malfoy! Or, had he kissed her?

Hermione's head was pounding thinking about it all. She knew that even as much as she wanted to pretend nothing had happened, she had to address the problem directly as that was the only way to resolve it. As uncomfortable and undesirable as it might be, at the very least she felt she deserved an explanation from Malfoy for his uncharacteristic behavior.

Getting to her feet for the first time that morning, Hermione quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a purple long-sleeved tee. She hastily ran her brush through her hair and fastened it into a ponytail before grabbing her jacket and dashing out the door.

The last thing in the world she wanted to do was look her two best friends in the eye over breakfast and keep the secret that she had kissed their arch enemy only hours before, but she knew they would be waiting for her and she couldn't keep brushing them aside.

"Catching up on your beauty rest are you?" Ron kidded as Hermione approached the table.

"If only…" Hermione sighed taking her seat and buttering a piece of toast.

Harry drank down the last of his juice before saying, "Say Hermione, where'd you get lost again last night? When he got back to the common room after divination, Ginny was there and said the two of you never had plans to work on astronomy."

Hermione felt her cheeks turn a bright shade of pink at the inquisition; she wasn't prepared for having to explain her whereabouts. At least Harry was the one asking her about it this time instead of Ron interrogating her in outrage.

"I was working on the latest strategy for the S.P.E.W. campaign." Hermione lied, hoping that would be enough to throw them off the topic.

"Again Hermione, how many times do I have to tell you? Their _happy_ with the way they live!" Ron retorted, cramming a strip of bacon in his mouth.

But Hermione was no longer listening. She was far too busy scanning the entirety of the Great Hall looking for any sign of Malfoy. There were few students left at the Slytherin table, all of which appeared to be either first or second years and were not permitted access to visit Hogsmeade. She wondered if Malfoy would have gone along with his fellow fourth years to the village or if he was busy lurking about some remote part of the castle in solitude.

"Hermione!" Harry snapped his fingers in front of Hermione's eyes suddenly, "Did you hear a word I just said?"

"What?" She asked stupidly, focusing her eyes on Harry now.

"Forget it." Harry replied, "Are you ready to go then?"

"Sure, let's go." Hermione answered.

The three friends exited the Great Hall and began the journey to Hogsmeade. As they passed the Durmstrang ship, they saw Viktor Krum dive into the icy lake with his swimming trunks on, causing yet another uncomfortable exchange between Ron and Hermione. She had attempted to be the voice of reason once more by explaining that Viktor had confessed he liked it at Hogwarts and it was much warmer here than where he was from. This statement was of course met with the usual scoffs from Harry and Ron who clearly thought he was only telling this to Hermione to impress her. After Hermione had tried to tell them that he really was a nice person (and that there was nothing going on) and the two boys still doubted her, she decided to drop it. A small part of Hermione couldn't help but wish that there _was_ something going on with her and Viktor because at least then she could try to talk to someone about it.

Harry was far more concerned with locating Hagrid than anything else that morning. He had been absent for the last week after Rita Skeeter had published a particularly horrible article about him in the Daily Prophet. Harry thought that perhaps they would find him in the village and would finally be able to talk to him.

Hermione was barely following the conversation at all, she found herself much too distracted with her Malfoy predicament to care. She kept thinking that if either Harry or Ron knew what she had been up to the last few days, it would end their friendship for sure. Her conscious was telling her that she needed to stop chasing after the curious feelings she was experiencing in Malfoy's company. But just when she thought she had made up her mind to confront him and end the newfound pattern of behavior, her stomach would somersault at the memory of his strong, smooth hands brushing against her skin.

When they reached the village at last, there was no sign of Hagrid anywhere to be found. The trio patronized some of their favorite places at Hogsmeade while keeping an eye out for him including Honeydukes Sweetshop where Harry and Ron replenished their stash of sweets. Afterward, they decided to pop in to the Three Broomsticks for a bit of lunch and one final attempt to find Hagrid.

But there was no trace of their over-sized professor here either and almost immediately upon ordering drinks and taking their seats, Harry was cornered by Ludo Bagman and taken outside for a private word. When he returned, he regaled Hermione and Ron with details of the encounter and told them about how Bagman had offered to help Harry figure out the second task.

"You just told me you'd cracked the clue inside the egg!" Hermione shouted indignantly, outraged that a Ministry official would be so willing to cheat.

Harry quickly began talking again, but what he was saying Hermione couldn't have repeated because she went temporarily deaf. Her eyes were fixed on the entrance to the pub where she saw Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy strolling through the door, Pansy Parkinson trailing behind them.

Malfoy locked eyes with Hermione from across the room and didn't look away until Crabbe had motioned for him to make his way over to the booth and take his seat. The foursome sat on the opposite side of the room so that Hermione's back was toward their table. She consciously fought the urge to turn around and study Malfoy's expression. Her stomach had tightened into an uncomfortable knot as her anxiety from the night before returned.

"Oi, you three!" called Fred Weasley.

"What are you lot up to on this fine Saturday?" Trilled George Weasley as both of them filtered in and sat on either side of Hermione.

"We've been out looking for Hagrid." Ron announced, slurping his butterbeer loudly.

"Never mind that…"Said Fred dismissively.

"Yeah, never mind," Echoed George, "What's eating you Granger?"

"Bit too much spew campaigning eh?" Fred questioned.

Hermione ignored the laughs from Harry and Ron, "It's not _spew…._ " She started to say in rebuttal.

"Right," George interrupted, "we know—"

"S—P—E—W." Fred corrected, naming each individual letter.

"You do look a bit peeky Hermione." Ron noted.

"Fancy a bit sugar to cure you?" George asked with an evil glint in his eye.

At this time, Fred produced one of their homemade canary creams they had been selling at Hogwarts that upon consumption, caused one to transform into a yellow canary bird. "Here have a taste." He urged.

Hermione groaned and pushed the pastry away, knowing all too well what the twins were up to.

"Not falling for it I see." Said George.

"No matter... George look!" Fred cried.

"Bagman!" Geroge exclaimed, exchanging a sinister look with Fred, "We'd best be off!"

"Later kids!" Fred said before he and George got to their feet and hastily made their way over to where Bagman was standing, presumably to try and sell him some of their latest concoctions.

"Those two…." Ron muttered, polishing off the last of his drink. "You going to drink that Hermione?"

Hermione shook her head and slid her glass across the table top, massaging her temples with her fingertips. She was feeling rather queasy all of a sudden and could feel Malfoy's eyes burning into the back of her neck.

"Are you feeling alright, Hermione?" Harry asked in a concerned voice.

"Not really." She managed to say before hanging her head in her hands. She didn't know whether it was Malfoy's sudden appearance or her guilt bubbling to the surface that was making her feel so horrid but she knew she couldn't face Harry or Ron for much longer, at least not with Malfoy staring at her across the place. "I'm going to get a bit of fresh air." Hermione said, pushing out her chair and getting to her feet.

"We'll come with you." Said Harry.

"No, you stay and enjoy the village, I'm just going to step out for a bit." She replied, hoping beyond hope that for once Harry and Ron would listen to her and not follow after.

"Well, okay then. If you want to go back to the castle, we'll walk with you." Harry said as he settled back into his chair.

Hermione nodded in response and pulled on her coat. As she stepped away from their table she could no longer fight the overwhelming need to steal a glance over in Malfoy's direction. He was resting his chin on his fist, gaze fixed upon Hermione with his usual straight face painted in place while Pansy chattered animatedly to the group. Hermione's heart skipped a beat as Malfoy's steely gray eyes met hers. She pulled her glance away and hastened toward the door, knocking into an unfamiliar wizard causing him to spill some of his drink as she did.

When at last Hermione was outside the Three Broomsticks, the cold January air swept over her bringing instant relief. She rounded the corner and leaned against the side of the building, gulping in long breaths of air to calm her nerves. Hermione closed her eyes, her headache beginning to subside, and tried to think clearly. _How did I get myself into this mess?_ She wondered silently to herself.

"Hermione…" A hushed voice called, interrupting Hermione's moment of solitude. She opened her eyes to see Malfoy walking slowly towards her, looking over his shoulder to make sure none of his lackeys had decided to follow. "I want to talk to you; you left in such a hurry last night."

Hermione swallowed, "I wanted to talk to you too." She whispered, even though she wasn't quite sure what it was she wanted to say. She looked around nervously at the passersby, hoping that Harry and Ron weren't about to burst through the door and come looking for her.

Malfoy spied her looking around and plucked her by the arm to lead her farther away from the traffic of the street. He rounded another corner which brought them into the alleyway behind the pub and out of sight. "Are you alright?" He asked, looking nervous.

"Of course I'm not all right!" Hermione hissed back, "What in the world are we doing?!"

Malfoy blinked in confusion before his trademark crooked smile crept across his face, "Studying of course." He joked.

Hermione did not find this funny, but she found herself oddly captivated by that damn crooked smile he wore so well. "Cut it, Malfoy! You know exactly what I'm referring to!" She spat when she finally managed to speak again.

He paused for a moment, "You mean this...?" He asked calmly, stepping closer to her.

The next thing Hermione knew she was kissing him again. Malfoy brushed his lips gently against hers at first before Hermione reached up and caressed his strong jawline, pulling him down closer to her. She felt the butterflies flapping around in her stomach and her heart race once more. Malfoy gently leaned her against the wall and rested his hands against the cold stone as Hermione's knees started to give way.

"Stop!" Hermione cried when she finally broke away from the kiss.

Malfoy instantly hopped back a few paces, looking bewildered, "Did I do something wrong?" He asked in a troubled voice.

"Yes!—Er—no…..I don't know!" Hermione stammered throwing her arms in the air. "I can't do this!...WE _can't_ do this!"

She studied Malfoy's expression which turned from concerned to coy in the blink of an eye, "And why's that?"

"Because it's not right, if Harry or Ron knew they'd never forgive me! I can't keep carrying on like this when they are supposed to be my best friends. How does that make me look? Going behind their back to rendezvous with someone they absolutely loathe! I think we had best stop this right now before it goes any farther, that way they won't get suspicious." The words were spilling out of Hermione's mouth so quickly she had no time to choose them carefully, "And I'm sure you of all people have your reputation to consider…what with your father and all… Yes, I'll go back to being friends with Harry and Ron…and I'll try to convince them you aren't the snake they think you are and you'll forget any of this ever happened and stop tormenting Harry just for fun."

Malfoy's face showed no signs of upset as she invented her plan out loud; rather he remained still and composed, seeming to be amused with Hermione's ramblings. "Whatever you say, Granger." He said nonchalantly when she had finished speaking.

"Er—that's right; that is what I say." Hermione said in a very final sort of way. She watched as his crooked smile returned once more, ' _Damnit,'_ she thought to herself, ' _again with that look?'_

Malfoy stepped closer to her again, so close that Hermione could feel the warmth of his body against her in the wintery air and inhale the cool, woodsy scent that she was becoming very familiar with. "Who said anyone ever had to know?" He whispered in her ear before turning his back and floating away down the alley.

Hermione found herself unable to speak as he drifted further and further away from where she was standing, still leaning against the stone wall for support. She could still taste his breath on her lips and hear her heart pounding loudly in her chest.

"Hermione there you are!"

Hermione tore her gaze off of Malfoy to see Harry and Ron rushing toward her.

"What horrible things has he been up to now?" Harry glowered as he spied Malfoy retreating.

"That great prat!" Ron roared, "If he said any of his usual smut to you Hermione I won't think twice about jinxing him to the point-of-no-return!"

"No, it's fine." Hermione assured him, her speech now returning to her, "Let's just go back to the castle."

That was the first night Hermione dreamed of Draco Malfoy.

Just when she would drift off to sleep, images of Malfoy's perfect smile and statuesque build would crowd her mind and she would remember in great detail the way it felt when their lips met. She imagined his breath on her neck, his hands tangled in her hair, and his stunning grey eyes staring down at her.

When Hermione awoke on Sunday morning, all sense of reason completely forgone, she craved the feeling she experienced when she was with him. It overpowered her in a way that almost nothing else ever had before and she knew that more than anything she needed to chase after the high she felt whenever she found herself alone with him.


	6. The Experiment

When Hermione awoke the next morning she was feeling a strange new assortment of feelings—the most prominent one however was the overwhelming pull to seek out Malfoy. In addition, she couldn't help but feel conflicted, guilty and confused all at the same time.

Pursuing a relationship with Malfoy would undoubtedly be a conflict of interest for her. Yet somehow he didn't seem like the same Malfoy that everyone else knew, rather a separate entity that only she had seen the positive side of.

She was particularly confused by the relationship as well. Hermione couldn't ever see a romantic relationship between them, at least not a serious one. But on the other hand what was it that they were already doing? This certainly was not friendship behavior.

" _I guess he does have a point that no one would ever really have to know…"_ Hermione thought to herself as she lay awake in bed. Whenever this thought crossed Hermione's mind she would feel her usual bout of guilt begin to surface again thinking of Harry and Ron and the countless hours she sat with them professing their hatred towards their fellow classmate.

These same thoughts circled endlessly in her mind and it was the same problem she always seemed to have: a battle between the rational side of her and the impulsive one. The rational side of her brain told her to stay away, that he was bad news, that no good could come out of continuing this obscure new relationship, and that she was stabbing her two best friends in the back.

The impulsive side of her was whispering other things; things that made Hermione blush just thinking about them let alone acting on them. She was now seriously questioning her decision to form her own opinion of him because it felt as though this was skewing the results of her social experiment. Did she really have a clearer picture of who he was, or was she just choosing to ignore all the bad things to justify the feelings she was developing for him?

Another image of Malfoy's piercing gaze flashed into Hermione's brain and she suddenly lost her train of thought. The urge to seek him out was growing stronger by the second. Hermione decided that she would perform one final experiment in which she would let her heart make the decision for her so that she could stop overanalyzing the situation and let it play out.

She now hastened out of bed and began readying herself for the day. Most of the girls in the dormitory were still asleep as to take advantage of being able to sleep in on the weekend but Hermione couldn't wait any longer. She needed answers and she needed them as soon as possible. After dressing in a hurry and descending the staircase of the girl's dormitory, Hermione made her way across the Gryffindor common room and had almost reached the fat lady when…

"Good morning Hermione! Are you going down to breakfast?"

"Oh, good morning Ginny." Hermione answered, slightly startled by the interruption, "Actually, I was about to…."

"I'll join you, I'm absolutely starved and no one else is awake yet." Ginny interrupted and climbed out the portrait hole.

"Splendid." Hermione said under her breath, following after her.

When they arrived at the Great Hall that morning there were very few students feasting on the morning meal. Nonetheless, Hermione scanned the long tables crowding the room in the hopes of seeing Malfoy but he too was not awake yet.

Over breakfast, Ginny babbled about her classes and a variety of other things. Hermione politely nodded along but was only half listening to her as she was busy trying not to focus on the images of Malfoy's perfectly chiseled chin that kept popping up in her mind. Her newfound attraction toward him seemed to appear overnight and Hermione couldn't decide if it was because she knew it was wrong to be involved with him or because she had told him it couldn't continue between them only the day before. Perhaps he had been this attractive all along and she was blinded by of all the hostile opinions she had previously held. In any instance, Hermione couldn't tear her thoughts away long enough to come down to earth and visit with Ginny.

After what felt like an eternity, one of Ginny's fellow third years joined them at the table and Hermione saw her window of opportunity open at last.

"Well, I had best be off Ginny, I'll see you later then." Hermione said as she started to slide off the wooden bench.

"Where are you running to this early in the morning? You can't possibly mean to tell me you're barricading yourself in the library this early on a Sunday." Ginny said staring up at her over the top of her glass of orange juice.

"What can I say?" Hermione shrugged, "I've just got places to be is all."

"You must have a hot date to get to," Ginny smiled, "see you later then." She said turning to face her friend and discuss their latest divination assignment.

Hermione knew she was joking but felt her face instantly flush with embarrassment. She hoped that Ginny didn't notice this and wasn't becoming suspicious of anything.

As she strolled away from the Great Hall it occurred to her that she hadn't the slightest idea of where to look for Malfoy. She decided to begin her search in his study spot on the sixth floor but didn't find him there. She also checked the library but it wasn't until after she had ruled out this location that she recalled him saying he disliked the library and only went there when it was absolutely essential. Hermione checked the common areas of the castle as well and when there was no sign of him anywhere, she decided she had no other choice but to head down to the Slytherin house located in the dungeon.

When Hermione had traveled through the dark, dank dungeon and reached the Slytherin common room she felt slightly stupid at her desperation. She had no way of accessing the Slytherin house in the first place so what did she expect to do when she got there?

Lucky for her an answer to her question appeared before her very eyes.

"Excuse me!" Hermione said, calling out to a young first year boy who had just exited the common room.

"Y-yes?" The boy stammered looking very nervous.

"I was wondering if you could do me a small favor, I'd be most grateful if you did." Hermione said kindly, sensing that the boy was rather shy.

"Sure, what is it?" The boy answered, sounding more confident now.

"Brilliant!" Hermione exclaimed as she bent down to talk to him face to face, "Right then, can you go back into the Slytherin common room and tell Draco Malfoy that Hermione Granger needs to speak with him?"

The color from the boy's face drained almost instantly. "D-Draco M-Malfoy?" He stammered.

"Correct." Hermione replied.

He gulped audibly, "He's almost always surrounded by those big scary fourth years…."

Hermione blinked, realizing that Crabbe and Goyle were probably not the most welcoming to the younger students, "Well, I'm sure that if you tell him _really_ nicely that Hermione is looking for him, no one will give you any trouble."

"And why exactly would he need to see _you,_ Mudblood?"

Hermione whirled around to see Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle standing behind her looking rather threatening. The first year boy took one look at them and quickly scurried out of sight. "I should think that's not really any of your business. "She retorted hotly.

"Malfoy's business is our business." Growled Crabbe with his arms folded across his chest. "How's about you tell us what you need to speak to him for and we'll let you know if it's something he needs to hear?"

Hermione gave a sarcastic laugh, "I don't have to tell you two baboons anything!"

This time Goyle spoke, "Filthy Mudblood, you've got a lot of nerve talking back to us!"

Hermione burned with rage and instinctively withdrew her wand from her pocket, "Speak to me like that again and I'll make sure the two of you don't leave the hospital wing for a month." She warned raising her wand, ready to fire curses at them at any second.

Crabbe and Goyle also took out their wands and got into position. "You wouldn't dare." Said Goyle.

"Yeah," added Crabbe, "You'd be too afraid of getting expelled."

"Do I detect a problem here boys?" Another voice questioned from behind Crabbe and Goyle's oversized frames.

In the blink of an eye both cronies lowered their wands and spun around to see Malfoy himself standing behind them.

"Draco!" Goyle spluttered, "We were just having a little conversation with Granger here."

"Said she needed to talk to you." Crabbe added.

Malfoy snarled in aggravation, "And?! You thought I was incapable of handling it on my own?"

"No Draco! We only thought we were doing you a favor—"Goyle backpedaled.

"—We didn't want this wretched Mudblood wasting your time."

"I don't remember asking the pair of you to be the judges now did I? I can take care of my own affairs perfectly fine thanks." Malfoy spat, shooting each of them a menacing stare. Crabbe and Goyle both began stammering around for further explanation but Malfoy rounded on them the moment they opened their mouths, "Get out of my sight you fools, surely you have better things to do than eavesdrop on my personal business!"

And with that the pair of them stepped past Hermione and into the Slytherin common room. Hermione lowered her wand and jammed it back into her pocket before walking over to the spot where Malfoy stood planted in place. "Come with me." She commanded and tugged him by his sleeve in the opposite direction of Slytherin house.

"Mind telling me what this all about?" Malfoy inquired, hurrying to keep up with her.

"Not here." Hermione responded.

When they had made their way out of the dungeons, Hermione climbed the grand staircase up to the second floor of the castle and darted into the nearest classroom. The room was completely deserted being that it was Sunday and once they were both safely inside from the prying eyes of others, Hermione took out her wand once more. " _Colloportus_!" She said and the door lock clicked shut in obedience.

"Sorry about those two blokes by the way, they like to think their being helpful by shoving their noses where they don't belong." Malfoy snorted.

But Hermione couldn't wait any longer; she had already pushed the unpleasant encounter with Crabbe and Goyle from her mind and cared little about discussing it further. She stepped over to him and lifted his school bag off his shoulder, letting it fall to the floor with a loud _thud_.

Malfoy was looking at her with a puzzled expression on his face, "And what are we doing here exactly?"

"An experiment." Hermione responded, "Now stop talking." She instructed as she grabbed a fistful of his sweater and reached up on tip-toe to kiss him passionately.

She was _definitely_ addicted. The moment their lips met, Hermione's pulse quickened with excitement. She stretched up and ran her fingers through his feathery blonde hair as he pulled her tightly into his embrace.

"That'll do…"Hermione whispered breathlessly when they finally parted. The rational side of her brain was screaming at her but for the first time she didn't care. There was something about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Nothing that she had yet experienced in her life came remotely close to the exhilarating thrill she experienced while in the presence of Draco Malfoy. Hermione knew now that she didn't have it in her to stay away, not when his kiss caused her to see stars and send chills through her entire body. "No one can ever know." Hermione said warningly.

"Cross my heart." Malfoy returned, drawing an invisible "x" over his chest before grabbing her waist and pulling her into another electrifying kiss.


	7. Chapter 7-Year 5

**A/N:** **Sincerest apologies for the long wait. I had hoped to post this chapter along with the next one at the same time but since it's taking longer than expected, this one will have to do for now. Enjoy!**

Year 5

"GRYFFINDOR!" The sorting hat shouted over the Great Hall as a young boy with sandy brown hair stood up from the wooden stool and took his seat with his new housemates.

Hermione Granger applauded along with her fellow Gryffindors to welcome him to their house. It was the start of the fall term in her fifth year at Hogwarts and Hermione was glad to be back at school again. As the sorting ceremony continued on, she, Harry and Ron watched eagerly as the groups of first years were sorted appropriately.

"They get smaller and smaller every year, don't they?" Ron commented as a small, skinny girl joined Hufflepuff house.

Hermione and Harry both nodded in agreement and turned their attention back toward the remaining children that approached the sorting hat in turn.

The summer had done Hermione well and she thought that over the break, she had gained a fresh new perspective on many things. Being another year older, her hair had also tamed significantly and was now much more manageable than her previously frizzy mass of curls. She had been lucky enough to do some traveling all over Europe with her parents and when she returned home she felt as though her new experiences had refreshed her sprits. She was eager to return to school once more to be reunited with her friends and see what the next chapter had in store for them.

One thing Hermione was feeling particularly relaxed about these days was her relationship with the red-headed beauty, Ron Weasley. She had developed feelings for him some time ago and during her fourth year at Hogwarts, she realized just how much she wished their relationship would turn into something more. It was rather disappointing for her to not have Ron step up to the plate, and she had been certain that he too was feeling the same way towards her, yet he never expressed it to take things to the next level.

Frustrated as she had been with this, Hermione was now another year older and felt much more at ease with him taking his time. The pair often shared small, unexpected moments in which it was clear that there was more to them than friendship and Hermione's heart soared with the excitement just wondering about what Ron would do next to impress her. Not only that, but Hermione's friends and family (Ron's too for that matter) consistently made remarks about how they were nearly inseparable and predicted that one day they would end up together. Until then, Hermione would cling to the little encounters her and Ron shared and enjoy the thrill of their relationship growing and changing-however long it might take to evolve.

Even though to outsiders they may have seemed like opposites, she knew in her heart that he was the one for her; she could tell by the way he made her feel. Ron had always been a comfort for her to be around, his silly habits and goofiness made him positively lovable and Hermione adored how he made her laugh. She felt grounded by Ron in a way that she did with no one else. Moreover, it thrilled her that Ron thought so highly of her, regularly praising her undeniable magical talent and helping to build her confidence. Ron needed Hermione's help and guidance as much as she needed him for support. Furthermore, Ron's lack of seriousness often reminded Hermione to relax and have a little fun. Best of all, he was always there to defend her honor or provide a shoulder to cry on when she was upset.

Sometimes she would imagine what their life would be like together. She'd dream about their first kiss and yearn for the day Ron would finally confess his feelings for her and then, they would live happily ever after. She often fantasized about Ron's soft lips grazing against hers, his arms wrapped tightly around her small frame and Hermione clutching to him like she would never let go. These thoughts were so powerful, so wonderfully magical that Hermione would get goose bumps and go weak in the knees just thinking about them. If Ron could make her feel this way without so much as trying, the day that he finally decided to take action was sure to exceed her wildest expectations and would give her feelings of delight that she had never experienced before and that, she supposed, was worth the wait.

It was the waiting that did her in though, and for that she had Draco Malfoy.

He and Hermione had taken up a rather curious relationship midway through their fourth year. What had begun as nothing more than a strange encounter on the night of the Yule Ball had led to many other meet-ups in which Hermione and Malfoy found themselves alone together. Away from the damning control of his father and fellow Slytherins, Malfoy was a completely different person who had revealed to Hermione that he was capable of exhibiting kindness and that there was far more to him than he ever let on. As their interactions progressed, Hermione found herself oddly drawn to him and couldn't suppress the curiosity that manifested within her whenever they would get lost in conversation.

Somehow, she and Malfoy had grown to be something of an item. Hermione still didn't know how exactly her feelings had shifted and this came to be but she did know that she was totally and completely addicted to him. For the remainder of the previous school year, the two of them would sneak away for hours on end, engaged in a steamy lip-lock that was their own perfectly guarded secret.

Draco had been a glorious distraction for Hermione. He had been there to take her mind off the fact that the entirety of the school was teasing her about how Viktor Krum had told Rita Skeeter that he had never felt the way he had about any other girl before Hermione. He, Draco, had been the one to slip Hermione a copy of Witch Weekly magazine beforehand to prepare her for keeping her cool when Pansy Parkinson attempted to embarrass her with a rather racy article about Hermione's alleged love life. And he had been there for all the times that Hermione needed to blow off steam with Ron's ignorance. Most surprisingly of all, she found that Malfoy was a great listener and that in addition to their insane sexual chemistry; they also had quite a lot to talk about.

Hermione had thought that her newfound perspective and wisdom would extinguish her desire for Draco Malfoy, but as she sat through the traditional welcome back feast, she found that she could concentrate on little more than her need to be near him.

As the night wore on, Hermione made chit-chat with her fellow Gryffindor's, getting caught up with everything that had happened over the summer holiday. Her eyes kept wandering over to the neighboring Slytherin table in-between conversations, where she watched as Malfoy repeatedly traded seats with people.

Harry and Ron were both beginning to annoy Hermione already. Harry had been particularly salty for weeks and had been brooding almost constantly about his recent hearing with the Ministry of Magic and how terrible his life was. As for Ron, he was much too distracted with the feast to care about anything else—Hermione was sure that food would always be his first love. As thrilled as she was to be back at school and reunited with them again, it was beginning to wear off and Hermione found herself suddenly hungry for a delicious taste of something forbidden.

Malfoy finally settled into the spot that was diagonal from her, sandwiched between two sixth year Slytherins. Their eyes met across the hall and Hermione chewed on her lower lip as she stared lustily back at him. She tried to act as normal as possible and picked at her food apprehensively, stealing glances over at Malfoy at every possible opportunity.

When the dinner plates had vanished from the four large tables and the array of delectable desserts appeared in their place, Hermione and Malfoy locked eyes again. This time he raised his eyebrows suggestively at her and jerked his head in the direction of the entrance to the Great Hall before rising to his feet and strolling away from the banquet.

Hermione forced herself to count to ten out of habit before getting up to follow after him.

" _One,"_

His eyes staring down at her.

" _two,"_

 _His silky voice whispering in her ear._

" _three,"_

His arms wrapped around her.

" _four,"_

His hands running though her hair.

" _five,"_

His hard chest pressing against her body.

" _six,"_

His fingers brushing along her skin.

" _seven,"_

His soft hair tickling her face.

" _eight,"_

His lips on her mouth.

" _nine,"_

His lips on her neck.

" _ten."_

His lips on her chest.

Hermione rose from the table hastily, nearly tripping over the long wooden bench as she slid away. "Erm—be right back." She said as convincingly as she could manage, though she was vaguely aware of the puzzled exchange of stares between Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George as she abruptly excused herself.

She began stepping hurriedly from the hall, unable to slow her pace to a normal speed. It had been far too long since she had felt the touch of Malfoy's hands all over her.

Hermione pushed open the heavy oak doors of the Great Hall and advanced a few steps beyond it, hearing them shut quietly behind her with a soft puff of air. She began scanning the surroundings looking swiftly to the left and right. Almost instantly, she felt a pair of familiar arms grab her from behind. She whirled around and fell into Malfoy's arms—her lips finding their way to his almost automatically.

It had _definitely_ been too long.

The pair of them hustled out of sight into a nearby broom cupboard and Hermione felt her back collide fiercely with the door the moment they were inside. Malfoy's hands were moving all over her from the sides of her face, down her arms and to her hips. She tugged at his neck tie while biting his lower lip gently.

"You had an enjoyable holiday I trust?" Hermione asked breathlessly, momentarily surfacing for air.

Malfoy pinned himself against her as he continued kissing her, "Brilliant." He panted, separating himself from her for only a moment.

The summer had apparently been good to Malfoy too. Hermione guessed that he must have grown a full three inches over the last few months as she now had to stand slightly on tip-toe to get at him. His scrawny figure, although still slim and not bulky, had disappeared being replaced with a fuller, stone-like chest, broader shoulders, and stronger, muscular arms. His hair was as blonde as ever but it was styled in a sleeker, more sophisticated way than his usual longer locks from the years before.

Hermione's addiction was even more delicious than she remembered and the second she was reunited with Malfoy, her desire burned stronger than ever before. Her head rolled back as she let out a small moan when Malfoy's mouth traveled up her neck and he stopped to nibble playfully at her ear. She rewarded him by reaching up and gently pulling on his hair, something she had discovered he loved toward the end of last year.

It wasn't until they could hear Dumbledore's voice echoing from inside the Great Hall commanding everyone's attention that they broke apart. Hermione fussed with Draco's tie a bit before smoothing her hair back into place. Composed, she leaned in and planted one more kiss on his lips before throwing the door open and stepping outside.

Her high was overcoming her now as she stepped away from the closet, stumbling clumsily over her own feet. Hermione's head was spinning; her reunion with Malfoy left her reeling—greedy and hungry for more. As she yanked open one of the giant oak doors again she couldn't help but think that she would have to wait far too long for her next hit and that more than anything she wanted to sneak away as soon as possible to properly catch up.

Although not fully recovered, Hermione managed to slip back into her place at the Gryffindor table opposite Ron just as Dumbledore began his usual welcome speech. Ron eyed Hermione suspiciously as she drained her glass of pumpkin juice.

"Where've you been?" He said in a loud whisper.

"Hush Ron…." Hermione responded, pointing toward the head table where the headmaster was standing.

"Ugh." Harry scoffed, "Look at Malfoy waltzing in here like he owns the place. Wonder what appalling things he's been up to now…."

Hermione felt her face turn a bright shade of pink as Malfoy strode back into the hall and planted himself next to the two sixth years from earlier. By the end of the last year, Hermione had almost become a master of concealing her nervousness when Harry, Ron and Malfoy were in the same room. She found that the longer their relationship wore on, the easier it became to push the guilt she felt from her mind. Plus, it felt _so_ good to act on her feelings that it overpowered the side of her that told her it was wrong to associate with her best friend's enemy. Now that a new year was upon them however, Hermione was feeling out of practice with the façade and instantly felt remorse tugging at her insides when Harry and Ron seethed with annoyance at Malfoy's appearance.

In an effort to brush them off she cleared her throat loudly and turned her attention to Dumbledore. That is, she tried to turn her attention away from the mounting urge to feign an illness so that she could pretend to retire to the common room early and meet Malfoy in an abandoned room somewhere in the castle.

Dumbledore began by introducing the new updates to the school staff and was quickly interrupted by the rather toad-like woman named Delores Umbridge who was to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. No one had ever dared interrupt Dumbledore's speech before and Harry, Ron and Hermione were all instantly uneasy about her new role at Hogwarts. It was clear that the Ministry of Magic was interfering with the way the school as run, and Hermione knew the changes that were certain to lie ahead would not go over smoothly.

Once Dumbledore had dismissed the students and Hermione had explained to Harry and Ron that the Ministry was surely meddling with school policies, she felt her desire to sneak away return once more. She had temporarily forgotten that her and Ron had been made Gryffindor Prefects this year and would be required to lead the first year students to the common room. Hermione's heart sank at the thought of not being able to get re-acquainted with Malfoy but she hoped that she wouldn't have to wait too terribly long.

"Come on Ron, we had best round up the first years." She said, getting to her feet as the rest of the school emptied from the hall.

Ron groaned and followed after her, "Alright you lot, over this way!"

"Gryffindor house is to come with us please." Hermione announced loudly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson gathering up the Slytherin students as well being that they too were now Prefects. Seeing this made her feel somewhat better about having to escort the first years and she supposed it was because she realized her and Malfoy both had other obligations to tend to first.

As they began to climb the grand staircase of the castle, Hermione looked back over her shoulder just in time to catch Malfoy's eye. _"Damnit,"_ she thought, _"he looks better than I remembered."_ Malfoy stared after her and Hermione could have sworn she saw him give a quick wink in her direction before disappearing in the direction of the dungeons.

The first day of classes was absolutely exhausting. Harry had somehow already managed to land himself in detention with Professor Umbridge and Hermione was annoyed at his temper that kept popping up unexpectedly. She already knew she didn't care for Umbridge, but she would have liked to have stayed on her good side for as long as possible. Instead, her simple questions had provoked Harry into an outburst and now Hermione was sure that Umbridge would always associate them together and would not act kindly toward either of them. Potions was as grueling as ever, made even more unbearable by Malfoy's presence only feet away from her. When she wasn't attending classes she was busy helping first years about the castle and making them feel welcome. Before she knew it, the day was over and Hermione was forced to retire to the girl's dormitory and go to bed.

The next several days passed by in a blur. It was business as usual and Hermione was beginning to fall back into her regular routine, yet something didn't feel quite right. Even though she was back at Hogwarts, she didn't feel as though she had truly come back. Harry and Ron were busy talking her ear off about how terrible the homework load was, Hermione was working diligently on all her assignments each evening, and classes (with the exception of Defense Against the Dark Arts) were as challenging and intriguing as ever. Still, it seemed to Hermione that something was missing and she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

On Thursday night Hermione was having difficulty concentrating on her herbology homework at her usual table beside the fire in the Gryffindor common room. Frustrated, she decided to go on a walk before students were required to stay in their dormitories. She climbed through the portrait hole and her feet carried her down the corridor almost instinctively. Before long, she found herself on the sixth floor near the entrance to the North Tower. The rest of the floor was practically deserted as Hermione pulled open one of the many doors and slid inside very discretely.

Sure enough, Malfoy was waiting for her.

"It's about time, Granger." He said, closing his books and getting up from the table in the center of the cluttered room.

"I know, I couldn't get away until just now!" She replied, hurrying to meet him.

Malfoy and Hermione reached one another at the same time.

He looked down at her, studying her fully for the first time in months. Hermione watched as a small smile crept across his face and he reached out to grab both of her hands. Her skin instantly tingled at his touch and she felt herself lean in closer to him. Malfoy studied her intently for another long moment before reaching up and brushing the hair from her face. Slowly, almost as if they were living in slow motion, he bent down and pressed his lips softly to hers. Heart racing, Hermione reached up and clasped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. She felt his hands wander, trailing down her arms and stopping to rest in the small of her back which sent shudders racing up her spine.

Malfoy pulled away from the kiss suddenly but stood planted firmly in place, "I've been waiting ages to do that."

Hermione smiled, "We've got a lot of catching up to do I reckon."

And at that, they fell back into another kiss. Malfoy pulled Hermione closer to him and lifted her several inches off the ground. When he set her back down again, Hermione was having difficulty standing properly and they inched their way over to take a seat on the wooden bench, still intertwined in a lip-lock. She ran her fingers through his bright blonde hair and took in the feeling of being pressed against him again at last. It was more tantalizing than ever and it suddenly felt as though it had been years since Hermione had felt the touch of Draco Malfoy. Everything was new and thrilling again, just as exhilarating and electrifying as it had been the first time they kissed. Hermione savored the feeling of his fingers brushing over her skin and the familiar cool scent of him rubbing off on her.

As Malfoy slowly made his way from Hermione's lips, to her neck, to her favorite spot behind her right ear, she began to feel more normal. _Now_ she was back and everything was as it should be: Harry and Ron were off skulking about their problems, classes were back in session, and she and Malfoy were hidden secretly away from it all swept up in each other's arms.

Year five was off to an excellent start.


	8. A Temper and a Challenge

The next few days came and went and soon Hermione was starting to feel herself fall back into a familiar rhythm of being back to school. Most days she would wake up, head off to class, go to dinner, get started on homework and meet up with Malfoy for her daily dose of forbidden medicine. Before she knew it, it was nearing the end of their second week back at Hogwarts.

Harry had of course spent many long hours serving his detention sentence with Umbridge and it was becoming clear to everyone that not only did they greatly dislike their newest teacher, but they would be lucky to learn anything at all in class before their looming O.W.L examinations. Hermione and Ron were as frustrated with Umbridge as Harry was and both detested her strongly, although arguably not as much as Harry must have having been forced to write lines with a quill that cut the message "I must not tell lies" deeply into his skin.

Another thing that Hermione was noticing more and more was Harry's change in behavior. These days he was rather short tempered with everyone and would often snap at them for no reason or make mean comments to her and Ron when they were together. The most irritating thing was that he seemed to be taking out his frustrations with the world on his two best friends and Hermione had started to get her fill of it. She had tried politely reminding Harry several times that it wasn't her and Ron he was angry with and they were on his side to support him, yet the pattern of behavior still continued to show itself regularly.

One evening, Hermione and Ron waited up in the Gryffindor common room for Harry to return from his final detention with Umbridge.

"It's nearly midnight!" Hermione exclaimed, fussing over a bowl of yellow liquid, "She can't still be keeping him?"

"Knowing that hag I wouldn't put it past her…" Ron growled.

Hermione was looking very concerned but gave a weak laugh when Ron referred to Umbridge as a hag, "She's just a dreadful woman." She got to her feet and began pacing back and forth in front of the fire as a silence fell between them.

"Hermione enough! You're making me nervous." Said Ron as his eyes followed her left to right and back again.

"Oh…." Hermione breathed, stopping in her tracks, "I didn't even realize I was doing it."

"C'mon, Harry's survived much worse than this I'm sure he's fine. Umbridge is just probably trying to milk his last detention for all it's worth."

"I suppose you're right, he's always getting into something though so I never can be sure with him."

"Say 'Mione," Ron began and Hermione's eyes darted up at the sound of her favorite pet name, "I know what will help you take your mind off things…."

Hermione was certain her heart stopped for a moment as Ron's voice trailed off. The first thing she thought of upon hearing these words was that Ron was going to make a comment about her rushing off to find Malfoy and that he knew everything that was going on; but she quickly vetoed this idea and let her imagination run wild with other possibilities. She thought that perhaps Ron was starting to work up the courage to make a move and that for once he would take advantage of their copious amounts of alone time together.

"Really?" She asked after a long moment, "And what exactly did you have in mind?"

"You've got a knack for astronomy, mind giving me a hand with Sinistra's essay?"

Hermione blinked dumbfounded, "I certainly will not! I already told you Ron, I'm not helping you with all your homework this year. You are going to have to learn this stuff sometime and you had best do it now before the O.W.L.s!"

Ron looked dejected as he picked up his quill again, "Right, okay then." He muttered and Hermione resumed pacing.

After a few more minutes, the door of the common room finally swung open and Harry stepped inside.

"Here," Hermione said anxiously as she pushed the small bowl of yellow-looking liquid towards him, "it should help your hand if you soak it in here."

Harry obeyed her instruction and a feeling of relief instantly washed over his face, "Thanks." He said gratefully as he settled deeper into one of the oversized armchairs.

"Oi, I still think you ought to complain to someone about this!" Ron suggested.

"For the last time—no." Harry replied irritably.

"McGonagall would have a field day if she knew about this—"

"And what's your point?! How long do you think it would take before Umbridge passed a decree that immediately sacked any staff member who complained?" Harry snapped.

Ron fell silent and Hermione searched for something to say, "She really is an awful woman. I was just saying so to Ron before you came in…we've really got to do something about her."

"Poison?" Ron questioned.

"No…something about what a terrible teacher she is. I mean, how are we going to learn any defense from her at all?"

Harry snorted, "I reckon it's too late to do anything about it now. She's got the job and she'll be here to stay if Fudge has anything to say about it."

"Well…"Hermione began tentatively, "You know I was thinking one day that maybe it's time we just do it ourselves."

"Do what ourselves?" Harry questioned, still bathing his hand in the curious solution Hermione had provided him.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts—we could teach ourselves." She suggested.

"Are you mad? All this homework already and you want to do _extra_ work?" said Ron in disbelief.

"It's far more important that homework. After all, we need to prepare ourselves for what's waiting out there, just like Harry said in Umbridge's first lesson. We need a teacher and a proper one at that." Hermione explained.

"Well that much is obvious but I'm afraid we're fresh out of eligible Defense teachers at the moment." Harry sneered in contempt.

Hermione shot Ron an uneasy look, "See that's what got me thinking…I thought you might be able to teach us Harry."

"Me?" Harry asked alarmed.

"Yeah, that's an idea!" Ron exclaimed.

"What's an idea?" Said Harry, still in confusion.

"You teaching us of course!" Ron replied.

Hermione began explaining, "Think about it Harry; you're the best in our year at defense, you've beaten me in every test, first year you saved the Stone from You-Know-Who, second year you killed the basilisk and destroyed Riddle, third year you fought all those dementors and last year you fought off You-Know-Who again!"

"It all sounds great when you put it like that but I had a lot of help with that stuff."

"Oh stop being modest Harry…" Hermione began.

"No I'm not being modest!" Harry countered, almost angrily, "I know what I did but I didn't get through any of it because I'm some expert on Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"But surely you have a knack for it. Hermione's got a great idea mate; you'd make an excellent teacher." said Ron.

Harry suddenly leapt to his feet, spilling the solution and causing the glass bowl to shatter on the floor, "Listen to me! The pair of you haven't a clue what it's like! Have you ever had to face him? No. You think it's as simple as learning a bunch of stuff and memorizing spells? Well it's not like you're sitting in class when he's attacking you—you're about a second from death at any given moment. Try concentrating on anything other than dying, or him killing your family, or torturing your friends. You two sit there acting like I'm such a clever boy, as if Cedric was stupid or he messed up but you just don't get it…that could have just have easily been me!"

"Harry please," Hermione interrupted, "we weren't trying to insult Cedric. This is exactly why we need you to teach us because we need to understand what it's really like."

"What it's really like?!" Harry roared, "It's really horrifying, there is nothing as terrible as being confronted by him! Haven't you been listening? There is no way I can teach you what it's like because you are so clueless about it all."

"Please, calm down Harry, you don't need to be angry with us." Hermione said softly.

"Hermione's right!" Ron piped up, "What are you mad at us for? We're on your side after all."

"Yeah loads of good that is being that every single other person at this school hates me and thinks I'm nothing but a liar." Harry said hotly.

"Well we believe you and we always have! Since when have you cared so much about what everyone else thinks of you? I think I speak for both Ron and I when I say that we wish you would stop snapping at us for no reason. I was only making a mere suggestion and—"

"—And a stupid suggestion at that!" Harry spat.

Hermione was so taken aback by Harry's fowl response that she had an inkling to give her a piece of her mind, "If that's what you think…."

"Yeah, that is what I think Hermione now drop it! Where do you even get this stuff sometimes?"

Hermione was so furious she couldn't think clearly enough to give a scathing retort. In one quick motion, she gathered her belongings from the table and stomped away from Harry and Ron into the girl's dormitory.

She couldn't believe how irrational Harry was behaving! After all, she had done nothing wrong and was only trying to show Harry how highly she and Ron thought of him. Hermione seethed all the while she readied herself for bed, trying to refrain from slamming things around as not to wake the other girls. This new side of Harry was getting old and at that moment Hermione would have given anything to be able to alleviate her frustrations using Draco. It was far too late for her to sneak out now however, she would be caught for sure if she set foot outside Gryffindor tower.

Hermione sighed heavily as she pulled the covers over herself and attempted to push the encounter from her mind. She turned her thoughts instead to that of Malfoy's tongue in her mouth as there seemed to be few problems that it couldn't solve these days. For a moment she wondered if she was depending too heavily on him for a distraction but quickly forgot this train of thought when an image of Malfoy's steel-grey eyes flashed into her mind.

When she awoke the next morning, Hermione was feeling particularly groggy. She hadn't slept well the night before as her thoughts kept shifting from Harry's outburst, to fantasies of her and Malfoy, to Ron and what he would say if he knew she was sneaking around with Malfoy at every possible opportunity. While she was beginning to regain her ability to push aside her guilt, Hermione was finding it incredibly difficult to spend time with Ron this year. Her feelings for him were greater than ever and she didn't want to do anything to jeopardize a relationship with Ron. She often worried about what would happen if he found out and if he would ever talk to her again. Whenever she began thinking about this, she would immediately try to rationalize her behavior by telling herself that no one was ever going to find out and that there was nothing wrong with enjoying Malfoy's company while Ron got his act together. Still, her conscious ebbed at her all while she readied herself that morning.

Today was Saturday and Hermione found the girl's dormitory to be empty that morning. Not feeling very hungry, she decided to pass on breakfast and instead indulge herself in a little light reading. She made her way to the common room where she curled up in her favorite chair and opened a new novel that her mother had sent to her. Not long after she had begun reading, Hermione was interrupted by the portrait hole swinging open.

"Must be nice not to have a mountain of homework piled up…" She heard a voice mutter.

Hermione instantly looked up and saw Ron skulking by, "Excuse me?" She asked crossly.

"All I mean is you don't need to rub it in Hermione. You know full well Harry and I are drowning in homework!" He whined.

"I fail to see how that is my problem. You two are the ones who have been putting it off, shame on you for not having your priorities straight." Hermione scolded.

Ron rolled his eyes and started to set off in the direction of his own dormitory, "We've asked you for help about a dozen times but you're too bloody good to help us with anything."

Hermione felt anger, just like the night before start to swell, "That's what you're upset about, that I wouldn't help you with your homework?! And of course by help, you mean cheat!"

"Yeah, that's right I'm upset because you have all the free time in the world and must just love watching Harry and I suffer. You probably enjoy watching us idiots trying to figure everything out while you sit back and relax."

"Oh please Ron, don't be ridiculous." Hermione said dismissively.

"Ridiculous am I? Well tell me then, who is it then who had so much time on their hands that they could dream up some nutty plan about Harry teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Said Ron, turning round to face her direction again.

"You didn't seem to think it was a nutty plan last night!" Hermione spat, slamming her book closed and getting to her feet.

"Harry's right you know, we don't have a clue what it's like. And you know how much stress he's been under lately but I guess you just thought, 'gee I've got a brilliant idea, let's force Harry to teach us about all the horrible things he's lived through so he can re-live them all over again!"

"Now you sound just as absurd as he did!" Hermione struggled to explain herself, "All I was doing was trying to help. And at least I've got our best interests in mind, unlike the two or you who have become so irresponsible and careless lately that I barely recognize you!"

" _Pfft_ ," Ron snorted, "' _our best interests.'_ yet you can't be bothered to help Harry or I with even one stinking ounce of homework. If you really had our best interests in mind you'd see that we're drowning over here and it's only the second week and if we could focus on anything other than all this bloody schoolwork we might be able to figure something out about You-Know-Who!"

"Ugh, you are unbelievable Ron!" Hermione snarled, throwing her arms in the air.

At this moment in time Harry swung open the door to the common room and stopped in his tracks. "My god do you two EVER stop bickering?!" He shouted when he caught sight of them.

Hermione's head whipped around to look at him, "Well if Ron would grow up—"

"Both of you grow up!" Harry roared in outrage, "All you do is fight constantly."

Ron opened his mouth to defend himself by was quickly cut off by Hermione, "Right, well seeing as how you boys have a problem with every single thing I say or do then perhaps it's best if I leave you alone!" She replied cattily before shooting each of them a nasty glare and dashing out of the common room.

Hermione felt rage with Harry and Ron that she had never felt before. _Why was it always something with those two?_ She wondered to herself. Even when she was trying to be polite and helpful it was as though Harry found some flaw to criticize or a reason not to listen to her. Ron on the other hand just had a tendency to say things he didn't mean whenever he was feeling cranky and she was quite sure this situation was no different, but nonetheless, she was fed up! Hermione also felt a new source of anger burn inside her when she thought how Ron had acted the previous night when she was pitching her brilliant Defense teacher idea to both of them. At first, Ron had agreed and tried to chime in with support, but within moments he gave up and rather than defending Hermione, he sat idly by as Harry once again snapped at her for no reason.

She walked only a few paces from Gryffindor tower before running into Ginny in the hallway.

"Hi Hermione," she said in a chipper tone.

Hermione was sure her face was a bright shade of red from the rage she was feeling but Ginny seemed not to notice. "Er, hi Ginny." She managed to say through clenched teeth.

"Is everything alright?" Ginny inquired.

"NO!" Hermione spat more forcefully than she intended to, "And no, I do NOT want to talk about it." She added when she saw Ginny preparing to question her further.

"Oh," Ginny said dejectedly, staring down at her shoes.

"I'm sorry Ginny, I don't mean to take out my anger on you. It's just…your idiot brother and Harry….afraid I've had my fill of them already today." Hermione explained.

Ginny hesitated before speaking again, "Well if you want I can talk to them for you."

"No, no, that's quite alright." Hermione said dismissively, "But would you mind doing me a favor?"

"I suppose not."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, "Great, could you just run up to the dormitory and grab my school bag? It should be on the floor near my night table." In all the chaos, she had completely forgotten to retrieve it before sprinting away from Harry and Ron and there was no way she was about to walk back in there.

Ginny nodded and gave the password to the Fat Lady. As the door began to close behind her, Hermione heard her shouting across the room, "What've you lot done now?! I don't think I've ever seen Hermione this upset."

After Ginny had returned with her school bag and study materials, Hermione politely declined further conversation and told Ginny she wanted to spend some time alone. She didn't know why she had said this to her friend as she didn't have any plans for that day other than getting a jump start on her assignments, but she supposed some alone time would do her some good.

As the day wore on, Hermione's anger with Harry and Ron still pulled at her. She was finding it very difficult to concentrate on much of anything with their fight hanging over her head. She couldn't decide what she found more irritating: their irrational behavior or how she couldn't stop letting it bother her as they clearly weren't bothered by it at all. She was finding herself becoming more infuriated with them with every hour that ticked by, especially Ron who she thought to have some nerve complaining to her about his mountain of homework that she was supposed to drop everything to assist him with.

"You know, I'm really starting to regret showing you this place, Granger."

Startled, Hermione whirled around so quickly that she nearly fell backward off the bench she was sitting on whilst pouring over one of her textbooks. Catching the familiar sight of Malfoy breezing into the room she said, "Sorry, I just….I just needed to get away from those fools." She replied, swiveling back to look at her book even though concentrating on it was next to impossible.

Malfoy gave a low chuckle and unbuttoned his collar as he sauntered over to the table. The abandoned room on the sixth floor was a regular meeting place for them now but it was almost always Hermione that discovered Malfoy lurking here and not the other way around.

"Do I sense tension?" He trilled taking the seat next to her so that he was sitting the wrong way round on the bench with his back leaned against the table. Hermione said nothing and continued to stare at the open book. "I'll take that as a yes." Malfoy said after a long minute of silence.

Hermione slammed the book closed forcefully and stuffed it back into her bag, rendering her attempt to study useless. "I should just go." She said bitterly.

"You don't need to do that. Why don't you tell me what's going on?" Malfoy asked in a perplexed tone, this was so unlike the girl he was used to seeing in this room.

"No. I can't; just got calmed down." Hermione replied, still arranging her bag rather violently.

"Because this is calm…" he muttered, "Who is it you think you're fooling? Remember I'm not as daft as the company you usually keep."

Hermione thrust her bag viciously onto the floor, "They are daft; dense as they come I reckon…"

"Now you're catching on, Granger!" Malfoy said approvingly but when Hermione didn't reply with her usual banter he fell silent again. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it? You know I don't mind if you complain about them."

She thought it was incredible how she didn't need to so much as provide an explanation for her anger and that she and Draco immediately translated the use of the word 'them' to mean 'Harry and Ron'.

Hermione shook her head, "No, not this time. I can't distract myself with anything long enough to stop thinking about what happened today and I'm afraid if I started talking, I'd never stop." She answered, fists clenched in anger at the recollection of the fight with Harry and Ron.

"Is that a challenge?" Malfoy asked eagerly.

This time Hermione gave a weak laugh and met his eye-line for the first time that evening, "No Draco, I'm afraid not even you are a big enough distraction for me this time."

Malfoy nodded and looked away from Hermione as she bent to retrieve her book bag and placed it back on top of the heavy table. A long moment of silence fell between them as Hermione drew in a long breath and exhaled as if trying to calm herself. She then began paging through her Transfiguration book and tried once more to focus on her studies.

Suddenly, without warning, Malfoy placed a hand on Hermione's back and dipped her low to the ground, pressing his lips tightly against hers. Hermione's book instantly slipped from her grip and landed loudly on the floor as she felt herself melt at his embrace.

Before she could fully registerwhat was happening, Malfoy had tipped her upright again so that she was sitting correctly on the bench. She felt completely winded, her heart thumping loudly in her chest. Hermione exhaled sharply, "Wow." She said breathlessly. Malfoy had a smug, pleased look about him now that drove Hermione crazy. "I—er—didn't _quite_ catch that." She finally managed to say after a moment.

Malfoy smiled and scooted closer to Hermione on the wooden bench. He reached up and caressed her cheek with his hand as he leaned in for another kiss. This time he kissed her slowly and more deliberately as his fingers became tangled in her long locks of hair. Hermione gently bit his lower lip and ran her hands down his muscular torso, stopping to rest on his inner thighs. Her heart was beating wildly with every second that passed. Hermione could hear the loud echo of it in her ears as Draco's tongue began tickling her lips lightly and started to travel down her neck.

After several flirtatious minutes had passed, they parted and Hermione struggled to steady her breathing. The incident with Harry and Ron was so far from her mind that it may have not happened at all. Malfoy was gently twisting a piece of her hair when he spoke again,

"I want to show you something Hermione, something I've never showed anyone before."

Hermione wondered what this could be; she was learning that Draco was a very secretive person and was always surprised by when he would open up to her. "Sure, what is it?" She asked.

"It's better if it's a surprise I think. Besides, the mystery will give you something to distract yourself with when you're trying not to kill Potter and Weasley." Draco replied coolly.

Her stomach gave an odd twinge at their names and instantly reminded her of the anger she felt with her two friends, "Aren't you going to show me now?"

"No, not yet." He said casually, rising from the bench, "Just meet me outside Flitwick's classroom on Tuesday night at seven." Then in one quick motion, he grabbed Hermione and spun her around so that her back was resting against the table. He leaned in and kissed her passionately one final time before straightening up and shuffling out the door leaving Hermione positively speechless once more.

Somehow, he had done it again. Not only had he managed to temporarily tear Hermione's thoughts away from the problems she was facing with Harry and Ron, but he had also succeeded in provoking her curiosity. Malfoy had become a master of teasing her, leaving her longing for more every time they were together.

Tuesday would never come soon enough.


End file.
